Canonization really mean heaven?

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I was having a discussion with my Catholic boyfriend and he debated with me that the Church doesn’t require us to believe that the canonized saints are in heaven. I have always believed that once a pope canonized a person, that meant they were definitely a saint and definitely in heaven. Is there some doctrine or paragraph in the Catechism that can back this up? I want definite proof that the Catholic Church realizes these holy people are in heaven. Thanks and God bless!
 
marie0014 said:
I was having a discussion with my Catholic boyfriend and he debated with me that the Church doesn’t require us to believe that the canonized saints are in heaven. I have always believed that once a pope canonized a person, that meant they were definitely a saint and definitely in heaven. Is there some doctrine or paragraph in the Catechism that can back this up? I want definite proof that the Catholic Church realizes these holy people are in heaven. Thanks and God bless!
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CCC 828
By canonizing some of the faithful, i.e., by solemnly proclaiming that they practiced heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to God’s grace, the Church recognizes the power of the Spirit of holiness within her and sustains the hope of believers by proposing the saints to them as models and intercessors. “The saints have always been the source and origin of renewal in the most difficult moments in the Church’s history.” Indeed, "holiness is the hidden source and infallible measure of her apostolic activity and missionary zeal."This is the only Catechism paragraph I could find that mentions canonization of saints. Hope it’s enough!
 
marie0014 said:
I was having a discussion with my Catholic boyfriend and he debated with me that the Church doesn’t require us to believe that the canonized saints are in heaven. I have always believed that once a pope canonized a person, that meant they were definitely a saint and definitely in heaven. Is there some doctrine or paragraph in the Catechism that can back this up? I want definite proof that the Catholic Church realizes these holy people are in heaven. Thanks and God bless!
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The root word also for canonization is canon, which means this is declared as law in the Church. I believe canonization is infallible.

We are not required to pray or follow any particular saint. There are thousands of them, we may not even get to know all of them in our lifetimes. But we are to accept what the Church has proclaimed as canon.
 
ConstantineTG said:
The root word also for canonization is canon, which means this is declared as law in the Church. I believe canonization is infallible.

We are not required to pray or follow any particular saint. There are thousands of them, we may not even get to know all of them in our lifetimes. But we are to accept what the Church has proclaimed as canon.
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I have always been curious about if canonization is infallible or not? My gut feel is that most theologians would say no, it is interesting the CCC quote given does not explicitly say they are in heaven.

As to the word canonization, I think you are wrong about it being law of the church. I am almost sure, the word comes from the fact that the saint is placed on the liturgical calendar, ie the canon of the mass.
 
A canon is an official list, I believe. There is a canon of works by Shakespeare, for example (there are some plays, I guess, that have questionable authorship). In the case of saints, the Church has gone to so much trouble to make certain that the person lived such a virtuous life, and the miracle(s) have been so clearly demonstrated that the Church says, this person is definitely in Heaven. We would be foolish to doubt it. But are we required to believe it? Tough question. I think infallibility only applies when the Holy Father specificly says, in effect, okay I’m now speaking infallibly. And the doctrine of infallibility has only been around since the 19th century. What of saints canonized before that?
 
marie0014 said:
I was having a discussion with my Catholic boyfriend and he debated with me that the Church doesn’t require us to believe that the canonized saints are in heaven. I have always believed that once a pope canonized a person, that meant they were definitely a saint and definitely in heaven. Is there some doctrine or paragraph in the Catechism that can back this up? I want definite proof that the Catholic Church realizes these holy people are in heaven. Thanks and God bless!
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As I understand it, we are required to believe in the canonization of a saint though beatification (given the title “blessed”) does not rise to the level of canonization and thus is not required.

You can read more on the subject here. Scroll down the page about halfway.
 
marie0014 said:
I was having a discussion with my Catholic boyfriend and he debated with me that the Church doesn’t require us to believe that the canonized saints are in heaven. I have always believed that once a pope canonized a person, that meant they were definitely a saint and definitely in heaven. Is there some doctrine or paragraph in the Catechism that can back this up? I want definite proof that the Catholic Church realizes these holy people are in heaven. Thanks and God bless!
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well this is what miracles of intercession are for 🙂 before a person is canonized, there needs to be several miracles due to their intercession… there miracles are examined in great detail by theologians, doctors, etc. This proves that they are in fact in heaven. So yes, all the canonized Saints are in Heaven 🙂 so we know we can ask them for prayers.

God bless
 
From an article in www.catholicnewsagency.com

In the Creed we profess belief in the Communion of Saints.

The Church canonizes Saints and celebrates their lives at Mass for three reasons:

To encourage asking their help and prayers
That their lives become a model to be imitated
They give us encouragement; if Christ can do it in them, He can do it in me

Courtesy of: schooloffaith.com
  • edited to say if we profess it in the creed then it is a belief held by the church. Where else would the communion of saints be but in heaven.
 
It is my understanding that canonization is infallible. At this point, though, I cannot lay my hands on a document that says so.

By the way, a great English-language book of apologetics that I cannot recommend enough addresses this issue, as well as a host of objections to the Catholic faith: Dialogue Concerning Heresies, by St. Thomas More. The Mary Gottschalk rendition into modern English is excellent.
 
Canonizations are indeed infallible and require the assent of the faithful.

While the Church’s power to declare infallible doctrine is limited to the Deposit of Faith (i.e. those truths found either explicitly or implicitly in Sacred Scripture or Sacred Tradition) which ended with the death of the last apostle, there are certain dogmatic facts which pertain to historical matters after that point which if not held would contradict the Deposit of Faith. For instance, the Church can infallibly say whether Pope Martin V was a valid pope or not, for if such power did not rest with the Church, the entire doctrine of the Primacy and Succession of Peter would be rendered pointless. Likewise, certain men and women have been such extraordinary examples of heroic virtue that if anyone were to deny these people met with Heavenly reward and were in fact in Hell, then the Church’s very doctrine on Salvation would be undermined.

Thus, canonization is considered a dogmatic fact, that while the person might have lived after the Deposit of Faith, to claim that they are in Hell would implicitly deny at some level, the Church’s doctrine. This is the position historically held by most theologians.
 
tafan said:
I have always been curious about if canonization is infallible or not? My gut feel is that most theologians would say no, it is interesting the CCC quote given does not explicitly say they are in heaven.

As to the word canonization, I think you are wrong about it being law of the church. I am almost sure, the word comes from the fact that the saint is placed on the liturgical calendar, ie the canon of the mass.
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By law I mean its put into law to make it official. Like if a local city government would make this Friday as “ice cream day” for example. To make it official, the councilors and mayor would still have to sign a decree, the same way they make a law. This makes the day officially “ice cream day”.

So the Church makes official with the force of law that a person is declared a saint worthy of veneration.
 
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