Who canonized St. Christopher?

Answer 1

In the 1960's the Roman Catholic Church took at look at many saints on the calendar to see if there was any true historical data that the person really lived, or if they did, lived a life that would qualify them for sainthood. Christopher was one of those removed.

Answer 2

Christopher is a legendary saint who may, or may not have, existed. We know little about him and most of that is legend. St. Christopher was declared a saint before the official canonization process was instituted in the 12th century. He would have been declared a saint to the bishop by those who knew him best and were familiar with his life and merits. The local bishop would them make the decision. Today only the pope can declare saints after years of study by the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints in the Vatican. The church does not create saints. Only God can do that. The Church "screens" candidates for sainthood to determine if they had a life worthy of emmulation. In other words, do they make good role models. Also, the Church has to be assured that the person is actually in Heaven. That is the reason that today a number of miracles must be verified before a person can be declared a saint.

Answer 3

St. Christopher was not canonized. In fact, there is a question as to whether he ever existed. If Christopher was a real person, he would have been declared a saint by popular acclamation, probably to a bishop, who would have named him a saint. The canonization process only came into existence in the 12th century.

Answer 4

Actually, St. Christopher is one of those legendary saints who may or may not have really existed. There is so little information known about him. Several decades ago he was removed from the official Calendar of Saints because so little was known. There were a number of saints that also were dropped, including St. Barbara of Nicomedia, St. Philomena, St. Dorothy and St. Ursula. The Church was not denying that these people were saints, they just said that too many questions remain unanswered. In the early days of the Church there was no official process for the canonization and people were declared as saints by popular acclamation. The canonization process did not begin until the 12th century. However, a number of really questionable individuals were honored as saints in ancient times. Even Buddha was, at one time, "converted" to Catholicism and named as a saint. Of course, he was one of the first to go.

Answer 5

St. Christopher is one of the legendary saints who may have never existed. There is little information about him that is reliable. Tradition tells us that he was martyred for his faith about the year 251. There was no official canonization process in place at the time. Since he was a martyr he would have been declared a saint by popular acclamation soon after his death.

Answer 6

St. Christopher was not canonized through the formal process of canonization. His cult was recognized by popular devotion and tradition.

Answer 7

1934