Clarification needed?
The RC church claims that all persons who have lived their lives in a state of genuine belief in Jesus Christ as their savior - and - have strived toward holiness in their lives, following biblical, Christian guidelines, are saints. We assume such people have met the requirements of Jesus Christ and have been judged worthy of entrance into paradise. More simply put, they are people who have been met the requirements and whose “robes have been washed with the blood of the Lamb.”
Canonization is a separate issue. It recognizes the public lives of persons with heroic virtue. Such persons are worthy of imitation in their holiness. The actual process, however, does require several steps before their names are accepted as “official saints.”
Yours is the answer to the questions. Since no one else replied to you, I thought I would. I am an Orthodox Christian. We have our “official” saints too, along with some we share with the West. I am, or at least hope to be, counted among the saints. That is what the Scriptures and the Church teach. But I also recognize that there have been extraordinary Christian people that whose examples I can learn from. Some of them will have “St.” before their names and some won’t. I have read the big biography of Pope St. John Paul II. I have always admired him for his public work. The biography taught me something of the inner man, his spiritual discipline, etc. That is what made the greatest impression on me.
Thank you for a clear rational response. I hope others will take it to heart.
THANK YOU...a post that is much more polite than mine would be. ha.