How Is A Catholic Relic Made?

To clarify, it's not possible to "make" a first- or second-class relic — only a third-class one. However, the argument could be made that when the Catholic Church canonizes a saint they are "making" a first-class relic, i.e., the body of the newly sainted dead. And yes, there is a very precise and regimented four-step procedure for canonizing a saint: "local request," "Vatican review," "beatification," and "canonization." As The Washington Post outlines, there are also two types of saints: confessors and martyrs. The former lived lives of "heroic virtue," while the latter died for their beliefs. The church also requires two miracles, first for the third step, "beatification," and then again for "canonization."

Canonization not only happens to this day but happens more often than before. Britannica reports that the Catholic Church has sainted more than 10,000 people over its lifespan, which depending on who you ask dates to the birth of Jesus. Almost one-tenth of those sainted were canonized in the past 10 years alone — as of March 13, 2023, ChurchPop says Pope Francis sainted 911 people, a number far outstripping any previous pope. Each one of those bodies is full of first-class relics, i.e. future desiccated bones, tufts of hair, etc. And if you nicked the shirt of one of those future saints during his or her lifetime? You've got yourself a dishonest-to-goodness second-class relic. That is, if you think that canonization "makes" relics and doesn't merely acknowledge what the divine already did.

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