Servant of God is the title given to a person of the Roman Catholic Church upon whom a pope has opened a cause of sainthood. It is the first step in the process leading to being declared Venerable upon a decree of heroicity or martyrdom and then honored in beatification with the title of Blessed after the confirmation of miracles attributed to the honoree. The final step is canonization where the honoree would receive the title of Saint. The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic Church (see terminology below) is the Christian Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, currently Pope Benedict XVI. It traces its origins to the original Christian community founded by Jesus of Nazareth, with its traditions first established by the Twelve Apostles and... The current Pope is Benedict XVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger), who was elected at the age of 78 on 19 April 2005. ... General definition of saint In general, the term Saint refers to someone who is exceptionally virtuous and holy. ... A Stained Glass image of Venerable Father Samuel Mazzuchelli in St. ... Historically, a martyr is a person who dies for his or her religious faith. ... In Catholicism, beatification (from Latin beatus, blessed, via Greek μακαριος, makarios) is a recognition accorded by the church of a dead persons accession to Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name (intercession of saints). ... Blessed is a dancehall album by Jamaican musician Beenie Man, released in 1995 (see 1995 in music). ... Canonization is the process of declaring someone a saint and involves proving that a candidate has lived in such a way that he or she qualifies for this. ... In traditional Christian iconography, Saints are usually depicted as having halos. ...

This should not be confused with Servus Servorum Dei (Servant of the Servants of God), one of the titles of the Pope. Servus Servorum Dei is a Latin phrase meaning Servant of the Servants of God. ... The current Pope is Benedict XVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger), who was elected at the age of 78 on 19 April 2005. ...

In general Christian usage (and in some other religious traditions -- the Arabic name Abdullah عبد الله literally means "servant of God"), the phrase "servant of God" is used as a description of a person believed to be pious in his or her faith tradition. Though it is commonly only formally used for those for whom a process of canonization has started, in fact it is proper to use it of any Christian -- hence, it is not yet a declaration by the Church at this stage in the process of any actual finding of fact about the person. Look up Abdullah on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Abdullah (or Abd Allah) means servant of Allah in Arabic. ...

Canonization is the process of declaring someone a saint and involves proving that a candidate has lived in such a way that he or she qualifies for this. ... The Roman Catholic Church or Catholic Church (see terminology below) is the Christian Church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, currently Pope Benedict XVI. It traces its origins to the original Christian community founded by Jesus of Nazareth, with its traditions first established by the Twelve Apostles and... A Stained Glass image of Venerable Father Samuel Mazzuchelli in St. ... In Catholicism, beatification (from Latin beatus, blessed, via Greek μακαριος, makarios) is a recognition accorded by the church of a dead persons accession to Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name (intercession of saints). ... In traditional Christian iconography, Saints are usually depicted as having halos. ...

External pages

• A group of young scholars, the Hagiography Circle maintain an informative website on newly added causes for sainthood, which can be helpful for providing citations when requested by the Wikipedia community, see example given at footnote in the Spanish Civil War article that quantifies the number "several" with the "thousands" of records on open causes at the Vatican.