Dear Catholic Exchange:
I am a new convert from Baptist to Catholic. I have a question on saints. Why do we have the right to canonize?
To me I look at Christians that are on earth and in heaven as saints. It's not exactly the way a Baptist understands it but that's the way I am viewing it now.
Why would we have the right to do this?
Andrea Blaylock
Dear Andrea:
“Saint” is a term with multiple meanings. It can simply mean “holy one” and so refer to any of the baptized, living or dead (as it does in the New Testament when Paul writes to the “saints” in, say, Corinth).
But in addition to this, “saint” has also taken on the meaning of “canonized saint.” That is, it also refers, in the Church's thinking, to particular Christians who have lived lives of exemplary holiness and who are therefore particularly good role models of discipleship.
The notion of pointing to particular role models of faith is nothing new: The letter to the Hebrews does it in Hebrews 11. Technically, the whole nation of Israel was a “holy nation” just as all the baptized are holy. But the author still thought it valuable to single out for our notice and imitation particular saints who exemplified what it means to be a disciple. The Church does the same when she canonizes a saint. It is not doing so to say “Anybody who isn't canonized isn't in heaven,” but to say, “Imitate this person as he or she imitated Christ.”
As to where the Church gets the right to do this, it comes from the authority granted to the Apostles by Jesus himself when He granted them the power of the keys and said, “Whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth is loosed in heaven” (Mt 18:18).
For a bit more info on this, check out my article “Are Saints New Revelation?”
Mark Shea
Senior Content Editor
Catholic Exchange
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