Editing Canonization (section)

=== Procedure prior to reservation to the Apostolic See ===
[[File:Pintoricchio 018 detail.jpg|thumb|left|[[Pope Pius II]] canonizes [[Catherine of Siena]].]]

For several centuries the [[bishop]]s, or in some places only the [[primate (bishop)|primates]] and [[patriarch]]s,<ref>August., ''Brevic. Collat. cum Donatistis'', III, 13, no. 25 in ''PL'', XLIII, 628.</ref> could grant martyrs and confessors public ecclesiastical honor; such honor, however, was always decreed only for the local territory of which the grantors had jurisdiction. Only acceptance of the ''cultus'' by the [[Pope]] made the ''cultus'' universal, because he alone can rule the universal [[Catholic Church]].<ref>Gonzalez Tellez, ''Comm. Perpet. in singulos textus libr. Decr.'', III, xlv, in Cap. 1, ''De reliquiis et vener. Sanct.''</ref> Abuses, however, crept into this discipline, due as well to indiscretions of popular fervor as to the negligence of some bishops in inquiring into the lives of those whom they permitted to be honoured as saints.

In the Medieval West, the [[Apostolic See]] was asked to intervene in the question of canonizations so as to ensure more authoritative decisions. The canonization of [[Saint Udalric, Bishop of Augsburg]] by [[Pope John XV]] in 993 was the first undoubted example of papal canonization of a saint from outside of [[Rome]] being declared worthy of liturgical veneration for the entire church.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kemp |first1=E. W. |title=Pope Alexander III and the Canonization of Saints: The Alexander Prize Essay |journal=Transactions of the Royal Historical Society |date=1945 |volume=27 |pages=13–28 |doi=10.2307/3678572 |issn=0080-4401|jstor=3678572 |s2cid=159681002 }}</ref> 

Thereafter, recourse to the judgment of the [[Pope]] occurred more frequently. Toward the end of the 11th century, the [[Pope]]s began asserting their exclusive right to authorize the veneration of a saint against the older rights of bishops to do so for their dioceses and regions. Popes therefore decreed that the virtues and miracles of persons proposed for public veneration should be examined in councils, more specifically in general councils. [[Pope Urban II]], [[Pope Calixtus II]], and [[Pope Eugene III]] conformed to this discipline.