Beatification is the third step on the path to canonization.

Beatification is the third step on the path to canonization.

• A. First
• B. Second
• C. Third
• D. Fourth

Answer: (C)

Understanding the path to sainthood helps you see why beatification sits where it does. In the process, the church first opens a cause and names the person a Servant of God, recognizing that the life is under serious consideration. After careful review of their virtue and life, the next step calls them Venerable, acknowledging heroic virtue. Beatification then comes next, giving the person the title Blessed and allowing limited public veneration—usually after a verified miracle attributed to their intercession. The final step is canonization, where the church proclaims them a Saint for universal veneration. So beatification is the third step because it follows the initial recognition and evaluation of virtue and occurs before the ultimate declaration of sainthood. The initial step would be the Servant of God stage; the next would be the Venerable stage; the final step is canonization as a Saint.

Understanding the path to sainthood helps you see why beatification sits where it does. In the process, the church first opens a cause and names the person a Servant of God, recognizing that the life is under serious consideration. After careful review of their virtue and life, the next step calls them Venerable, acknowledging heroic virtue. Beatification then comes next, giving the person the title Blessed and allowing limited public veneration—usually after a verified miracle attributed to their intercession. The final step is canonization, where the church proclaims them a Saint for universal veneration.

So beatification is the third step because it follows the initial recognition and evaluation of virtue and occurs before the ultimate declaration of sainthood. The initial step would be the Servant of God stage; the next would be the Venerable stage; the final step is canonization as a Saint.