There are several steps in the process of becoming a saint. From lowest to highest, the corresponding titles are Servant of God, Venerable, Blessed (i.e., beatification), and Saint (i.e., canonization). Beatification is thus the penultimate step in the process. What beatification does is to allow for veneration of the beatus (i.e., blessed) within that person’s locality (although this distinction has been somewhat blurred by modern communications that allow for worldwide interest in and knowledge of a particular beatus). Canonization allows for veneration of the saint by the universal Church.
