Are Popes automaticaly made saints?

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BrooklynBoy200

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I’m not sure if this is the right place to put this question, but here it is: if someone becomes the Pope, is that person a saint once he dies? Thankyou.
 
Nope - any quick look in any reference (even wiki and a list of popes) will show that not all are listed as saints.
 
Jennifer_G said:
Nope - any quick look in any reference (even wiki and a list of popes) will show that not all are listed as saints.
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Not even most. Most, in fact, are not canonized (though of course most saints in heaven also are not canonized).
 
It would be nice if they all clearly deserved the recognition, but for one reason or another most do not.

Even Pio Nonno, the Pope who defined the Immaculate Conception and called Vatican Council I is not recognized a saint. In fact the Melkite Catholic church launched a vigourous opposition when his cause came up the first time.

Boniface VIII, author of Unam Sanctam, was well known to be a greedy, bloodthirsty warmonger.

The one thing we cannot do is see into the hearts of men, that is the prerogative of God. I think it is fair to say that we will not ever know in this lifetime all who are in heaven. Most are and will remain anonymous. We cannot know of those who made a sincere repentance, and many ‘secret saints’ walk among us even now.

Unfortunately, until recently the focus of the canonization process has been on people in clerical orders, and especially those who founded religious communities. The everyday laypersons (although more numerous) just don’t usually get the kind of attention that the clerics get.

Michael
 
BrooklynBoy200 said:
I’m not sure if this is the right place to put this question, but here it is: if someone becomes the Pope, is that person a saint once he dies? Thankyou.
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About 80 are regarded as Saints, about 10 or 12 have been beatified, and the remaining 170 or so are neither. I think the exact numbers are 83 & 11, but I would have to check; & sources sometimes differ - Gelasius II is listed as beatified in some books, & not, by others.​

One explanation for the fact that all Bishops of Rome down to - and sometimes, including - Liberius (352-66) are counted as saints, is that a list of anniversaries of death of bishops was joined to a list of deceased bishops regarded as saints. Which sounds plausible; more so than the alternative, which is to believe that every Bishop of Rome until 500 (if not a bit later) was oustanding for holiness of character. Given that the last Pope to be recognised as a saint before St.Pius X (1903-14) is Pius V (1566-72), that seems improbable. Of all the Popes from Pius V to Pius X, only two are beatified: Innocent XI (1676-89) & Pius IX (1846-78); beautiful as it would be, if all Bishops of Rome down to 500 or so were men of saintly character ##
 
No. If Popes were automatically made saints, JPII would have already been declared a saint. They must go through the same canonization process as any other candidate. And as others have pointed out, there are many Popes who were never canonized.
 
Ok thanks for the answers guys. And one little question ( again showing my complete stupidity when it comes to Catholic terms): what does it mean to be beatified?
 
Brooklyn Boy,

The answer to your question is “no.” In fact, I doubt seriously that Pope Alexander VI made it even to Purgatory.
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