A great cloud of witnesses — Hebrews 12:1

The Saints

Saints are holy men and women who lived the Gospel heroically and are now with God in heaven. They come from every century, country and walk of life — kings and slaves, scholars and children.

How does someone become a saint?

In the Catholic Church, after a person dies with a reputation for holiness, the bishop may open a cause. The person is then called:

Servant of God→Venerable(heroic virtue proven)→Blessed(1 miracle, or martyrdom)→Saint(a 2nd miracle; canonised by the Pope)

Miracles — almost always medical healings — are examined by a board of doctors (the Consulta Medica), who must find no natural explanation, then by theologians, cardinals and the Pope. The process is run by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints in Rome. There are over 10,000 saints honoured in the Church; the official Roman Martyrology has thousands of entries. Pope Francis canonised more saints than any other Pope (over 900, including the 813 Martyrs of Otranto in 2013). Thirty-eight saints have the special title Doctor of the Church for their great teaching.

The Orthodox Church also honours saints, recognised through popular veneration and glorification by a synod, rather than through a formal miracle process. Protestants honour faithful Christians of the past but generally do not pray to saints; many use “saints” for all believers (as St Paul does, e.g. Romans 1:7).

Lives of well-loved saints

Sources & further reading