Can Saints be “Unsainted”?

by Admin · January 29, 2024

A canonisation ceremony is held in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican. While in theory, it might be possible for a pope to rescind a canonisation, in practice it is unlikely that he would. (CNS photo/Stefano Rellandini, Reuters)

Question: If a big scandal is revealed in the life of a saint, can their canonisation be reversed?

Answer: In theory, a canonisation can be rescinded. The Catholic Church has the authority to revoke the veneration of a person who has been canonised as a saint, if it is discovered that the person was not truly worthy of veneration or if new information comes to light that calls into question their heroic virtues or miracles, or that they actually existed.

However, the process of reversing a canonisation is not explicitly described in Church resources. It would certainly involve a formal process similar to the one used for canonisation itself, which includes a thorough investigation and examination of evidence.

Moreover, the complex question of whether canonisations are, in fact, infallible pronouncements would need to be settled first. In short, it would require a scandal of immense proportions to open that can of worms.

At this point it is important to remember that canonisation is simply the Church’s way of affirming that an individual is in heaven with God. Stripping that person of the status of being a canonised saint would not presume that he or she is not with God, — after all, that is God’s business alone.

In practice, canonisation is permanent. But some saints, especially some whose veneration precedes the institution of canonisation in 993 AD, were dropped from the Vatican’s list of official feast days in 1968, in some cases because of doubts about whether they actually existed.

Published in the November 2023 issue of The Southern Cross magazine