Beatification

For the process of making something beautiful, see Beautification. For the stages of a canonisation, see Canonization § Since 1983.

Pope John Paul I (1912–1978), beatified on 4 September 2022 by Pope Francis. He is the most recent pontiff to be beatified.
Pictured is Pope John Paul II. He beatified more people than all his predecessors had during the previous 400 years, and was himself beatified in 2011.

Beatification (from Latin beatus 'blessed' and facere 'to make') is an act by which the Catholic Church formally recognizes that a deceased member of the faithful is believed to have entered Heaven and is capable of interceding on behalf of individuals who pray in their name, permitting a restricted, local form of public veneration.

Unlike canonization, which most Catholic theologians hold to be a final and infallible act of the papal magisterium, beatification is generally regarded as a fallible and provisional judgment, and the veneration it permits is confined to a particular diocese, country, or religious institute rather than extended to the universal Church.

Beati is the plural form, referring to those who have undergone the process of beatification; they possess the title of "Blessed" (/ˈblɛsɪd/) (abbreviation "Bl.") before their names and are often referred to in English as "a Blessed" or, plurally, "Blesseds".

Blesseds are venerated regionally, Saints by the entire universal Church.

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