How many Catholic Saints are there?

Question

Need to know for high school.

Answer 1

This is taken directly from American Catholic (URL to follow):

"That is a difficult question to answer. 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.

The original edition of Butler’s Lives of the Saints, published between 1756 and 1759, had 1,486 entries. The 1956 revision contained 2,565.

Butler’s Lives is now undergoing another revision. Since not all the new volumes have yet been published, I cannot tell you how many biographies or saints will be listed.

In any case I doubt that anyone will claim it is a complete and exhaustive listing of all the saints or people who are claimed to have been saints.

There is also under way a revision of the Roman Martyrology by the Congregation for Divine Worship. The Martyrology is an official listing of saints’ feasts."

http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Aug1997/wiseman.asp#F2


So the real answer to your question is: "Nobody knows exactly how many saints there are." Between all the new saints cannonized by Pope John Paul II and the unofficially cannonized saints over the centuries, the number varies dramatically, depending on which source you read.

Answer 2

No one knows exactly how many there are but there are many thousands:

Here are a few helpful websites:

http://www.catholic.org/saints/
http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/indexsnt.htm
http://www.catholic-pages.com/dir/saints.asp
http://www.catholic.com/library/mary_saints.asp
http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/faqs.asp
http://www.rc.net/africa/catholicafrica/saints.htm
http://www.rcan.org/bca/saintslist.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/realm/blackcatholics/earlyblacksaints.pg3.html

With love in Christ.

Answer 3

Quite a few.

Answer 4

Over 10,000.

Answer 5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_saints

Answer 6

A LOT!!