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Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff from houst works dot com where smart Happens.

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Speaker 1: Hi Am Marshall Brain with today's question, how does someone

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Speaker 1: become a saint? Many of the world's religions bestows special

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Speaker 1: status on people who demonstrate a life of almost perfect virtue.

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Speaker 1: Religions differ on the title assigned to these people. The

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Speaker 1: Catholic Church calls them saints. So how does someone become

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Speaker 1: a saint? In the Catholic Church? The process is called canonization.

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Speaker 1: The Catholic Church is canonized about three thousand people. The

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Speaker 1: exact number is unknown because not all saints were officially canonized.

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Speaker 1: According to the Church, the pope does not make someone

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Speaker 1: a saint. The designation of sainthood only recognizes what God

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Speaker 1: has already done. For centuries, saints were chosen through public opinion,

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Speaker 1: and in the tenth century Pope John the fifteenth developed

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Speaker 1: an official canonization process. Canonization has then been revised in

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Speaker 1: the past one thousand years, most recently by Pope John

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Speaker 1: Paul the Second. In ninety three, Pope John Paul the Second,

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Speaker 1: who canonized some three people, made several procedural changes to

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Speaker 1: the canonization process, including the elimination of the devil's advocate

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Speaker 1: from the review process. The devil's advocate was the person

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Speaker 1: designated to attack the evidence offered in favor of canonization.

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Speaker 1: The process of becoming a Catholic saint is lengthy, often

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Speaker 1: taking decades or centuries to complete. The canonization process has

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Speaker 1: been in the news off and on over the past

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Speaker 1: few years, primarily because of the movement to make Mother

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Speaker 1: Teresa a saint. Soon after her death in nine Mother

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Speaker 1: Teresa's followers began pressing the Vatican to waive the rule

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Speaker 1: that prevents the process of canonization from beginning until five

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Speaker 1: years after the candidate's death. This rule has traditionally been

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Speaker 1: used to allow for a more objective look at the

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Speaker 1: person's life and achievements. In the Pope did waive the

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Speaker 1: five year rule, allowing the candonization process to begin. Here

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Speaker 1: are the steps that must be followed in the process

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Speaker 1: of canonization. First, a local bishop investigates the candidate's life

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Speaker 1: and writings for evidence of heroic virtue. The information uncovered

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Speaker 1: by the bishop is sent to the Vatican. Step two,

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Speaker 1: a panel of theologians and the cardinals of the Congregation

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Speaker 1: for a Cause of Saints evaluate the candidate's life step three.

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Speaker 1: If the panel approves, the Pope proclaims that candidate is venerable,

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Speaker 1: which means that the person is a role model of

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Speaker 1: Catholic virtues. Step four. The next step towards saint hood

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Speaker 1: is beatification, which allows a person to be honored by

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Speaker 1: a particular group or region. In order to beatify a candidate,

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Speaker 1: it must be shown that the person is responsible for

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Speaker 1: a posthumous miracle. Martyrs, those who died for their religious cause,

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Speaker 1: can be beatified without evidence of a miracle. On October twenty,

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Speaker 1: two thousand three, Mother Teresa was beatified. She is now

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Speaker 1: known as Blessed Mother Teresa. Step five. In order for

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Speaker 1: the candidate to be considered a saint, there must be

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Speaker 1: proof of a second posthumous miracle. If there is, the

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Speaker 1: person is canonized. These alleged miracles must be submitted to

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Speaker 1: the Vatican for verification. Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross,

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Speaker 1: was canonized in after the Vatican verified that a young

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Speaker 1: girl who ate seven times the lethal dose of thailand

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Speaker 1: all was suddenly cured. The girl's family was said to

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Speaker 1: have prayed to the spirit of Sister Teresa so for

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Speaker 1: help in Mother Teresa's case. Her supporters are arguing that

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Speaker 1: she has performed at least two posthumous miracles. In one case,

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Speaker 1: a frenchwoman in the United States broke several ribs in

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Speaker 1: a car accident. Reportedly, her wounds were healed because she

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Speaker 1: was wearing a Mother Teresa medallion. Another possible miracle occurred

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Speaker 1: when Mother Teresa appeared in the dreams of a Palestinian girl,

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Speaker 1: telling the girl that her cancer was cured. Once a

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Speaker 1: person is a saint, he or she is recommended to

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Speaker 1: the entire Catholic Church for veneration. Some saints are selected

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Speaker 1: as patron saints, special protectors, or guardians over particular occasions, illnesses, churches, countries,

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Speaker 1: or causes. For example, in two thousand and six, the

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Speaker 1: Pope named a patron saint of Internet users and computer programmers.

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Speaker 1: Several saints were considered, but the Pope eventually settled on

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Speaker 1: Saint Isidore of Seville, who is credited with writing the

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Speaker 1: world's first encyclopedia. So the next time you can't find

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Speaker 1: a Wi Fi hot spot, the person to pray to

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Speaker 1: would be Saint Isidore of Seville. Be sure to check

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