How many saints are there in the Catholic Church?
This question came to me as I was reading an article about the making of the Catholic Encyclopedia.
I soon realized I was asking the wrong, or at least inadequately framed question. What I wanted to know was how many Saints have been officially canonized by the Catholic Church.
I was a little disappointed to find out that there is no certain number to this. While the more recent canonizations are well documented, the Saints in the early church did not have to go through such a rigorous process, not were these canonizations recorded. Saint Ulrich from Augsburg is the first saint canonized by a pope in 993.
A search shows an estimate of about 10,000 saints, although references are not provided. Some early saints may have been historical legends rather than real people, and even a dog has been venerated as a saint.
The number of popes is more certain. Pope Francis is the 267th Roman Catholic pope in a lineage that can be traced back to St Peter.
While the canonization process has been streamlined in recent years, leading to larger numbers of new saints in the church, the number of papal saints is a rarity nowadays compared to the early church.
This question came to me as I was reading an article about the making of the Catholic Encyclopedia.
I soon realized I was asking the wrong, or at least inadequately framed question. What I wanted to know was how many Saints have been officially canonized by the Catholic Church.
I was a little disappointed to find out that there is no certain number to this. While the more recent canonizations are well documented, the Saints in the early church did not have to go through such a rigorous process, not were these canonizations recorded. Saint Ulrich from Augsburg is the first saint canonized by a pope in 993.
.jpg/248px-Leonhard_Beck_-_Heiliger_Ulrich_(Veste_Coburg).jpg) |
| Saint Ulrich from Augsburg (picture in public domain) |
A search shows an estimate of about 10,000 saints, although references are not provided. Some early saints may have been historical legends rather than real people, and even a dog has been venerated as a saint.
The number of popes is more certain. Pope Francis is the 267th Roman Catholic pope in a lineage that can be traced back to St Peter.
While the canonization process has been streamlined in recent years, leading to larger numbers of new saints in the church, the number of papal saints is a rarity nowadays compared to the early church.
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