Canonization is the declaration by the Church that a person is in Heaven and is added to the liturgical calendar.

Canonization is the declaration by the Church that a person is in Heaven and is added to the liturgical calendar.

• A. A local parish ceremony.
• B. The declaration that a person is in Heaven and added to the liturgical calendar.
• C. The requirement for sainthood before beatification.
• D. A prayer service for the dead.

Answer: (B)

Canonization is the formal declaration by the Church that a person is in Heaven and is added to the liturgical calendar. This means the Church officially recognizes that person as a saint and assigns a feast day to celebrate them in the whole Church, not just locally. It’s an official process, often involving careful examination of the person’s life and miracles attributed to them, before the declaration is made. A local parish ceremony isn’t the same as canonization, because canonization comes from the universal Church and changes how the person is honored across the whole Church. The idea that sainthood must come before beatification is the wrong order—beatification comes before canonization, and sainthood is conferred by canonization. A prayer service for the dead is a prayer practice, not an official declaration of sainthood.

Canonization is the formal declaration by the Church that a person is in Heaven and is added to the liturgical calendar. This means the Church officially recognizes that person as a saint and assigns a feast day to celebrate them in the whole Church, not just locally. It’s an official process, often involving careful examination of the person’s life and miracles attributed to them, before the declaration is made.

A local parish ceremony isn’t the same as canonization, because canonization comes from the universal Church and changes how the person is honored across the whole Church. The idea that sainthood must come before beatification is the wrong order—beatification comes before canonization, and sainthood is conferred by canonization. A prayer service for the dead is a prayer practice, not an official declaration of sainthood.