Paths to Sainthood
In May 2007, Pope Benedict XVI issued the document Sanctorum Mater (Instruction for Conducting Diocesan or Eparchial Inquiries in the Causes of Saints) that denoted the three principal criteria for starting a sainthood cause: martyrdom, heroic virtue, and reputation for holiness. Popes may on their own initiative recognize someone as a saint in an “equivalent canonization” after a long-standing cultus (veneration) and reputation for miracles is established. There…