Sainthood is another one. No church can "confer" sainthood. Ya either is or ya ain't one.
The church does not "confer" sainthood. When it "confers" sainthood as you say, it merely states as the Church that particular individual can be publically proclaimed a saint.
Yes, I believe we understand that. What is "conferred" is the public and formal recognition that a person is in heaven. God does the real work.
Sainthood is an often misunderstood concept. The Church does not "create" saints. Saints are anyone who is in Heaven. Sometimes the Church does an investigation - when they are sure that the person is in Heaven - they declare them to be a saint.
They do a very thourough investigation that takes years and usually decades.
The term "devil's advocate" comes from this process. The Church appoints someone to be a "devil's advocate" to bring up every little point or argument that would raise doubts about if the candidate really went straight to heaven or not.
Once the chruch determines that they are certain the person did go straight to heaven - they declare their sainthood. The Church is not creating the saint - they are merely reporting it.