A 2005 curial document notes that “canonization is the supreme glorification by the Church of a Servant of God raised to the honors of the altar with a decree declared definitive and preceptive for the whole Church, involving the solemn Magisterium of the Roman Pontiff.” Canonization is typically preceded by the papal approval of a miracle attributed to the saint’s intercession.
Beatification, the document continues, “consists in the concession of a public cult in the form of an indult and limited to a Servant of God whose virtues to a heroic degree, or martyrdom, have been duly recognized.” Beatification is thus typically preceded by (a) the papal recognition of martyrdom or (b) a decree of heroic virtues declaring the Servant of God “venerable,” followed by the papal approval of a miracle. The document notes that the liturgical cult of the blessed, according to the formula of beatification, is of limited scope, in locis ac modis iure statutis (“in places and modes established by law”).
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