Canonization

Canonization is the process adopted by the Roman Catholic Church of declaring a nominated person to be a saint. The process requires proof that the individual in question was holy, both in life and in how he or she died, and documented proof of miracles performed by God in response to prayers to the deceased individual to intercede in heaven and join in prayer to God for help. See James 5:16 "...The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects." See also Matthew 22:31-32 "Have you not read ...'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? He is not God of the dead, but of the living."