Beatification

For the process of making something beautiful, see Beautification. For the stages of a canonisation, see Canonization § Since 1983.

Beatification (from Latin beatus 'blessed' and facere 'to make') is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. Beati is the plural form, referring to those who have undergone the process of beatification; they possess the title of "Blessed" (/ˈblɛsɪd/) (abbreviation "Bl.") before their names and are often referred to in English as "a Blessed" or, plurally, "Blesseds".^[1]

Pope Pius IX (1792–1878), 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 in 2011.

Blesseds are venerated regionally, Saints by the entire universal Church.

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.^[2][3]

Since the reforms of 1983, as a rule, (for non-martyred Venerables) 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.^[4][5][6]

The requirement of a miracle for beatification is waived in the case of someone whose martyrdom is formally declared by the church.^[7]

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, Kateri Tekakwitha liturgical feast was celebrated in the United States and Canada when she was declared Blessed. John Duns Scotus was venerated among the Franciscans, in the Archdiocese of Cologne and other places. Similarly, veneration of Chiara Badano is particular to the Focolare movement.^{[citation needed]}

The Blessed, elected by popular acclamation (the vox populi) enjoyed local veneration. While the procedure of canonization was taken in hand from the twelfth century by the papacy in Rome, that of beatification continued on a local scale until the thirteenth century before settling at the Council of Trent, which reserved to the pope the right to say who could be venerated.^[8]

Practices under the popes

Pope John Paul II (1978–2005) markedly changed the previous Catholic practice of beatification. He proclaimed more saints and blessed than all his predecessors together since 1588, the year the Congregation for the causes of Saints was founded. In a statement, John Paul emphasized that he was doing nothing different from what the Second Vatican Council had wanted, which reaffirmed that holiness is the essential note of the Church.^[9]

John Paul II's successor, Pope Benedict XVI (2005–2013), 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

• Saints portal

• Locally venerated saint, a similar concept in Eastern Orthodoxy
• Chronological list of saints and blesseds
• List of saints
• List of venerated Catholics
• List of Servants of God
• List of beatified people
• List of people beatified by Pope Francis
• List of people beatified by Pope Benedict XVI
• List of people beatified by Pope John Paul II