How many saints have been recognized by the church?

shanetrane

"There are more than 10,000 Roman Catholic saints and beatified people. Among the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Communions, the numbers may be even higher, since there is no fixed process of "canonization" and each individual jurisdiction within the two Orthodox communions independently maintains parallel lists of saints that have only partial overlap." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_saints Feb 10 08, 1:43 PM

shanetrane

Explanation for the lack of a definitive list or number for the Roman catholic church: "In the first eight or nine centuries there was no formal process of canonization. People were recognized as saints because of a kind of popular acclamation. People were believed to be saints because they had been martyred for the faith or they had lived very holy lives. Often their graves became places of pilgrimage and prayer. We have no idea of how many people’s holiness was not recognized. That is one reason why we have the Feast of All Saints. Sometimes the recognition of holiness was particular to an area or community. Sometimes the reputation for sanctity spread beyond national borders. It was not until 993 that the first official canonization took place. It was then that Pope John XV declared Bishop Ulrich of Augsburg a saint." http://www.americancatholic.org/messenger/Aug1997/wiseman.asp#F2 Feb 10 08, 1:52 PM