Beatification

Beatification (from Latin beatus, "blessed" and facere, "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name. Beati is the plural form, referring to those who have undergone the process of beatification.

Pope Pius IX (1792–1878), who was beatified on 3 September 2000 by Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II beatified more people than all his predecessors had during the previous 400 years, and was himself beatified six years after his death, on Divine Mercy Sunday 2011.

History

Local bishops had the power of beatifying until 1634, when Pope Urban VIII, in the apostolic constitution Cœlestis Jerusalem of 6 July, reserved the power of beatifying to the Holy See.[1][2]

Since the reforms of 1983, as a rule, one miracle must be confirmed to have taken place through the intercession of the person to be beatified. Miracles are almost always unexplainable medical healings, and are scientifically investigated by commissions comprising physicians and theologians.[3][4][5]

The requirement of a miracle for beatification is waived in the case of someone whose martyrdom is formally declared by the Church.[6]

The feast day for a beatified person is not universal, but is celebrated only by territories, religious institutes, or communities in which the person receives particular veneration. For instance, Saint Kateri Tekakwitha was especially honored in the United States and Canada during her time as Blessed. John Duns Scotus was honored among the Franciscans, in the Archdiocese of Cologne and other places. Similarly, veneration of Blessed Chiara Badano is particular to the Focolare movement.

Practices under the Popes

Pope John Paul II (18 May 1920 – 2 April 2005) markedly changed previous Catholic practice of beatification. By October 2004, he had beatified 1,340 people, more than the sum of all of his predecessors since Pope Sixtus V (1585–1590), who established a beatification procedure similar to that used today.

John Paul II's successor, Pope Benedict XVI, personally celebrated the Beatification Mass for his predecessor at St. Peter's Basilica, on the Second Sunday of Easter, or Divine Mercy Sunday, on 1 May 2011, an event that drew more than one million people.

See also
  • Canonization (delineates the process of beatification)
  • Chronological list of saints and blesseds
  • List of beatified people
  • List of people beatified by Pope Francis
  • List of saints
  • List of Servants of God
  • List of venerated Catholics

    References

    Citations
    1. A. De Meester, Juris Canonici et Juris Canonico-Civilis Compendium Nova Editio, Tomus Tertius, Pars Secunda (Brugis: Desclée de Brouwer et Sii, 1928) pg. 86 (citing the canonist Pope Benedict XIV, De Servorum Dei Beatificatione et Beatorum Canonizatione)
    2. Beccari, Camillo (1907). "Beatification and Canonization." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Via New Advent. newadvent.org. Accessed 1 Nov 2015.
    3. Nature, Tia Ghose 2013-07-09T12:42:00Z Human. "The Science of Miracles: How the Vatican Decides". livescience.com. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
    4. "Miracles under the microscope". The Economist. 20 April 2000. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
    5. "How The Catholic Church Documented Mother Teresa's 2 Miracles". NPR.org. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
    6. "Sarno, Robert J., "Process of Canonization", Archdiocese of Oklahoma City". Archived from the original on 8 June 2018. Retrieved 5 June 2018.

    Sources
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