Where Can I find out if it's ok to venerate someone?

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PoorKnight

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Specifically, being a cop, I was thinking of the several hundred Knights Templar who were executed after the Battle of Hattin, for being Christians. According to several historical accounts - the type of historical account that discounts all the ‘fantasy’ and ‘legend’ junk that Dan Brown and the like have built up around them - the knights jostled in line to be next to be executed.

Or for a group that hasn’t been disbanded by pope Clement V the questionable… How about the Knights of St. John / Hospitalers who were executed by the Moors in the seige of Malta in 1565?

From my - limited - knowledge, Martyrdom means Sainthood whether the Church has bestowed the title officially or not.

I would like to be able to venerate these true Warriors and ask for their intercession, but I don’t want to go against the Church either.

Thank you for your time.
 
Since you’re a private person, there’s absolutely nothing stopping you. Private devotion is a private thing. You’re allowed to pray both for and with the faithful dead, or indeed anybody you think might be in Purgatory or Heaven. You don’t have to ask the Church if it’s okay to have a word with your deceased Great-grandpa or old Mr. Brown down the street, and that extends pretty far. The martyred dead from hundreds of years ago are as legal for you as old Mr. Brown down the street.

Now, if you wanted to start public devotions or a club for promoting devotion to these guys, that’s when you start to need permissions. (Although even the club doesn’t need a huge amount of permission, just a little bit.)

If a lot of private devotion starts going on for a person or persons, that’s one reason for the Church (or a local bishop) to start thinking about promoting a Cause for sainthood and to start the road toward public devotions being allowed. But private devotion generally comes first. (An example of “vox populi, vox Dei.”)
 
Yeah, Catholics are allowed to privately regard somebody as a saint (I suppose unless there’s some obvious reason not to do so) and even pray to them privately. There are a couple of people in my life who I am sure are saints, and I pray privately to them sometimes for help, but of course we cannot promote someone as a saint without the Church’s endorsement. That does not mean that we can’t promote a cause for canonization, though.
 
You are correct, Martyrdom means Sainthood. Therefore in the case of the crusaders that you mention who were martyred, they are saints.

You may pray for those who passed away, and you may even ask for their prayers / intercession. Personally, I usually only ask for intersession of those recognized by the Church to be in Heaven, and I pray for those souls in purgatory. However you are not breaking any Church rules here, since this is considered a private devotion.

You must never conjure them.
 
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