{"id":1304,"date":"2021-10-28T10:42:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-28T17:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/whats-a-miracle-heres-how-the-catholic-church-decides\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T21:26:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T04:26:08","slug":"what-is-a-miracle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/what-is-a-miracle\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s a \u2018miracle\u2019? Here\u2019s how the Catholic Church\u00a0decides"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n    \n                                \n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-hero \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-hero\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n<div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img\n                            data-src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/04\/story-3570-768x432.jpg\"\n          data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2023\/04\/story-3570-768x432.jpg 768w\"          data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 75vw, (min-width:768px) 83vw, 100vw\"          class=\"lazyload\"\n        \n                  alt=\"What\u2019s a \u2018miracle\u2019? Here\u2019s how the Catholic Church\u00a0decides\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n  \n      <div class=\"image-caption\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  Pope John Paul I, who was pope for about a month before his death, has moved one step closer to sainthood. (Composite: Letty Avila. Image Source: WikiCommons.)\n\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  \n  <div class=\"text-wrapper\">\n          <nav aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\" class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n        <ul>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\">News<\/a><\/li>\n                      <li><a href=\"\/news\/stories\/\/?category=arts-and-culture\">Arts and Culture<\/a><\/li>\n                  <\/ul>\n      <\/nav>\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--page-title\">\n\n    \n  <h1>What\u2019s a \u2018miracle\u2019? Here\u2019s how the Catholic Church\u00a0decides<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n          <div class=\"subtitle\">\n            \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  The Catholic Church has set in place rigorous criteria for determining if a person can be named \u201cSaint,\u201d including performance of a miracle. But how does the Church determine what is a miracle? <strong>[5 min read]<\/strong>\n\n\n<\/div>\n      <\/div>\n    \n           <strong class=\"author-field\"><span >By<\/span><a href=\"mailto:communication@dornsife.usc.edu\">Dorian Llywelyn<\/a><\/strong>\n    \n          <span class=\"post-date-field\">October 28, 2021<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--social-share \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--social-share\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"content-wrapper\">\n    <span class=\"a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list\" style=\"line-height: 32px;\">\n      <span class=\"title\">\n        Share\n      <\/span>\n                        <a class=\"a2a_button_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#copy_link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"Link\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg a2a_s__default a2a_s_copy_link\">\n              <svg height=\"19\" 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cc--rich-text \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n      \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <p>Albino Luciano, better known to the world as Pope John Paul I, reigned as pope for only 34 days before his death in September 1978. But he will soon <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vaticannews.va\/en\/pope\/news\/2021-10\/pope-john-paul-i-miracle-for-canonization.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">join the ranks<\/a> of 20th-century popes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/fact-tank\/2014\/04\/24\/papal-saints-once-a-given-now-extremely-rare\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">who the Catholic Church has canonized<\/a>. This literally means they have been entered on the \u201ccanon,\u201d or list, of people formally declared to be in heaven and have been granted the title \u201cBlessed\u201d or \u201cSaint.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The process requires a rigorous examination of the life and holiness of a candidate and involves <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usccb.org\/offices\/public-affairs\/saints\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">several stages<\/a> that can last years or even centuries.<\/p>\n<p>After someone with a reputation for exceptional holiness dies, a bishop can open an investigation into their life. At this stage, the person can be granted the title \u201cServant of God.\u201d Further details and research are needed for them to be recognized as \u201cVenerable,\u201d the next stage in canonization.<\/p>\n<p>The following step is beatification, when someone is declared \u201cBlessed.\u201d This usually requires that the Vatican confirm that the person performed a \u201cmiracle\u201d by interceding with God. Two miracles are required before a \u201cBlessed\u201d can be declared a saint.<\/p>\n<p>What, then, is a miracle?<\/p>\n<h2>More than medicine<\/h2>\n<p>The word is used widely in nonreligious ways. However, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usccb.org\/sites\/default\/files\/flipbooks\/catechism\/890\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Catechism of the Catholic Church<\/a>, which sums up the church\u2019s teachings, defines it as \u201ca sign or wonder such as a healing, or control of nature, which can only be attributed to divine power.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the canonization process, a miracle almost always refers to the spontaneous and lasting remission of <a href=\"https:\/\/wgntv.com\/news\/medical-watch\/a-chicago-mothers-miracle-baby-and-the-making-of-a-saint\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a serious, life-threatening medical condition<\/a>. The healing must have taken place in ways that the best-informed scientific knowledge cannot account for and follow prayers to the holy person.<\/p>\n<p>Pope John Paul I\u2019s beatification was greenlighted by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.causesanti.va\/it\/archivio-della-congregazione-cause-santi\/promulgazione-di-decreti\/decreti-pubblicati-nel-2021.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the sudden healing<\/a> of an 11-year-old girl in Buenos Aires who had been suffering severe acute brain inflammation, severe epilepsy and septic shock. She had been approaching what doctors considered almost-certain death in 2011 when her mother, nursing staff and a priest <a href=\"https:\/\/www.laprensalatina.com\/recovered-argentine-woman-reflects-on-late-popes-vatican-confirmed-miracle\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">began praying desperately<\/a> to the former pope.<\/p>\n<h2>The bigger picture<\/h2>\n<p>Catholic belief in miracles is long-standing and rooted in what the church believes about the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth. The Gospels portray Jesus as a teacher, but also as a wonder-worker who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=john+2&amp;version=KJV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">turned water into wine<\/a>, walked on water and <a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/luke\/9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">fed a large crowd<\/a> with minimal food.<\/p>\n<p>As <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/staff\/\">a Catholic theologian and professor<\/a>, I have written about saints, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oxfordhandbooks.com\/view\/10.1093\/oxfordhb\/9780199935420.001.0001\/oxfordhb-9780199935420-e-62\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">especially the Virgin Mary<\/a>, and taught university courses on hagiography, or writing about saints\u2019 lives. In Catholic tradition, miracles represent more than physical healing. They also confirm what Jesus preached: that God is willing to intervene in people\u2019s lives and can take away their suffering.<\/p>\n<p>For Christians, then, Jesus\u2019 miracles suggest strongly that he is Son of God. They point to what Jesus called \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.scborromeo.org\/ccc\/para\/2046.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">the reign of God<\/a>,\u201d in which Christians hope to be reunited with God in a world restored to its original perfection.<\/p>\n<h2>Devil\u2019s advocate?<\/h2>\n<p>Naturally, thoughtful people can object to the claimed supernatural origin of such events. And the development of medical science means that some healing processes can indeed now be explained purely as the work of nature, without needing to claim that divine intervention has been at work. Some Christian writers, notably the Protestant theologian <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?hl=en&amp;lr=&amp;id=UPZTDwAAQBAJ&amp;oi=fnd&amp;pg=PA131&amp;dq=Rudolf+bultmann+miracles&amp;ots=xTVxFRg56R&amp;sig=3FsfremirJgrGncTxlS44dQgEl4#v=snippet&amp;q=miracle&amp;f=false_\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Rudolf Bultmann<\/a>, have also interpreted Jesus\u2019 miracles as having a purely symbolic meaning and rejected them as being necessarily historical, literal truth.<\/p>\n<p>The Catholic Church has for centuries held that science and faith are <a href=\"https:\/\/churchlifejournal.nd.edu\/articles\/a-catholic-history-of-the-conflict-between-religion-and-science\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">not sworn enemies<\/a> but rather different ways of knowing which complement each other. That understanding guides investigations of supposed miracles, which are undertaken by the Vatican\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vatican.va\/content\/romancuria\/en\/congregazioni\/congregazione-delle-cause-dei-santi\/profilo.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Congregation for the Causes of Saints<\/a>, which has about two dozen staff and more than 100 clerical members and counselors.<\/p>\n<p>Theologians working for the Congregation assess all aspects of the life of a candidate for canonization. These include the \u201cPromoter of the Faith\u201d (sometimes called \u201cthe Devil\u2019s advocate\u201d), whose role was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vatican.va\/content\/john-paul-ii\/en\/apost_constitutions\/documents\/hf_jp-ii_apc_25011983_divinus-perfectionis-magister.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">changed in 1983<\/a> from finding arguments against canonization to supervising the process.<\/p>\n<p>Separately, <a href=\"https:\/\/press.vatican.va\/content\/salastampa\/en\/bollettino\/pubblico\/2016\/09\/23\/160923a.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a medical board<\/a> of independent scientific experts is appointed to investigate a claimed miracle. They begin by looking for purely natural explanations as they review the medical history.<\/p>\n<h2>New rules<\/h2>\n<p>The process of canonization has undergone continuous revisions throughout history.<\/p>\n<p>In 2016, Pope Francis initiated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.americamagazine.org\/issue\/money-and-saint-making\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">reforms in how the church assesses miracles<\/a>, which are meant to make the process more rigorous and transparent.<\/p>\n<p>The Catholic groups who request to open a canonization case for a particular person fund the investigation. Costs include fees paid to medical experts for their time, administrative expenses and research. But cases were often <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-pope-saints\/how-much-is-that-halo-pope-imposes-checks-on-costs-of-making-saints-idUSKCN0WC1WH\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">opaque and expensive<\/a>, reaching well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi wrote in a 2015 book.<\/p>\n<p>Among Francis\u2019 2016 reforms was a new rule that all payments be made by traceable bank transfer so groups can better track the Vatican\u2019s spending.<\/p>\n<p>Another of Francis\u2019 reforms is that in order for a canonization case to go forward, <a href=\"https:\/\/press.vatican.va\/content\/salastampa\/it\/bollettino\/pubblico\/2016\/09\/23\/0666\/01504.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">two-thirds of the medical board<\/a> are required to affirm that the miraculous event cannot be explained by natural causes. Previously, only a simple majority was needed.<\/p>\n<p>The overall point of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.archivioradiovaticana.va\/storico\/2016\/03\/10\/pope_francis_approves_new_rules_for_funds_of_saints_causes\/en-1214383\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">these reforms<\/a> is to protect the integrity of the canonization process and avoid mistakes or scandals that would discredit the church or mislead believers.<\/p>\n<p>Since Catholics believe that the \u201cBlesseds\u201d and saints are in heaven and intercede before God on behalf of people who seek their help, the question of miracles is a matter of being confident that prayers can and will be heard.<\/p>\n<p>[<em>3 media outlets, 1 religion newsletter.<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/us\/newsletters\/this-week-in-religion-76\/?utm_source=TCUS&amp;utm_medium=inline-link&amp;utm_campaign=newsletter-text&amp;utm_content=religion-3-in-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Get stories from The Conversation, AP and RNS.<\/a>]<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;\" src=\"https:\/\/counter.theconversation.com\/content\/170183\/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic\" alt=\"The Conversation\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https:\/\/theconversation.com\/republishing-guidelines --><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/profiles\/dorian-llywelyn-1282316\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dorian Llywelyn<\/a>, President, <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/iacs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies<\/a>, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/institutions\/usc-dornsife-college-of-letters-arts-and-sciences-2669\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p>This article is republished from <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/whats-a-miracle-heres-how-the-catholic-church-decides-170183\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n  \n        \n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-related-stories \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-related-stories\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n    \n                  <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/from-bodice-rippers-to-romantasy-romance-novels-are-dominating-the-book-market\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >From bodice rippers to romantasy, romance novels are dominating the book market \u2013 and rewriting women\u2019s sexual\u00a0power<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/bad-bunny-and-puerto-rican-muslims-both-remix-what-it-means-to-be-boricua\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >Bad Bunny and Puerto Rican Muslims: How both remix what it means to be\u00a0Boricua<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n              <article>\n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--cta-title\">\n\n    \n  <h3>\n          <a href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/jimmy-swaggarts-rise-and-fall-shaped-the-landscape-of-american-televangelism\/\" \n                        class=\"\" \n      >Jimmy Swaggart\u2019s rise and fall shaped the landscape of American televangelism<\/a>\n      <\/h3>\n\n\n<\/div>\n        <\/article>\n            <\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Catholic Church has set in place rigorous criteria for determining if a person can be named \u201cSaint,\u201d including performance of a miracle. But how does the Church determine what is a miracle? <strong>[5 min read]<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":1307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[87,104,83],"class_list":["post-1304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-and-culture","tag-expert-viewpoint","tag-religion","tag-the-conversation"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What\u2019s a \u2018miracle\u2019? Here\u2019s how the Catholic Church\u00a0decides<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Catholic Church has set in place rigorous criteria for determining if a person can be named \u201cSaint,\u201d including performance of a miracle.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/news\/stories\/what-is-a-miracle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What\u2019s a \u2018miracle\u2019? 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