What is an equivalent or equipollent canonization? Everything you need to know

On October 19, Pope Leo

According to the Catholic Encyclopediaan equivalent canonization (also known as equipolens) occurs when the Pope, in an exercise of his infallibility, “omitting judicial process and ceremonies, orders that a certain Servant of God be venerated in the Universal Church.”

Along with José Gregorio Hernández, Mother Carmen Rendiles will also be canonized, both becoming the first saints of Venezuela. Besides, the blessed will accompany them Ignazio Choukrallah Maloyan, Peter To Rot, Vincenza Maria Poloni, Maria Troncatti and Bartolo Longo.

The ordinary canonization procedure

The ordinary procedure for a person to be declared a saint by the Catholic Church includes a rigorous investigation to verify that they have heroically lived the Christian virtues, in addition to the verification of two miracles as reliable proof of their power of intercession before God.

After having passed all the usual stages of the processthe Holy Father approves the canonization decree where he declares that a deceased person has achieved eternal blessedness, officially recognizing that the candidate lived a life of heroic holiness and that, through divine intercession, his presence in the communion of saints is confirmed.

From that moment on, his name was inscribed in the universal catalog of saints and universal public worship of his intercession was authorized.

The equivalent canonization

The Catholic Encyclopedia explains that an equivalent canonization can occur when a Servant of God “has long been venerated, when his heroic virtues (or martyrdom) and miracles have been recounted by reliable historians and the fame of his miraculous intercession is unbroken.”

That is, to approve a canonization by equivalence, prolonged veneration of the saint and demonstrated heroic virtue are required and, although no modern miracle is necessary, the fame of miracles that occurred before or after the death of a saint is also taken into account after a study carried out by the historical section of the Vatican Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.

In the case of José Gregorio Hernández, it was officially approved by the Vatican a first miracle in 2020 that allowed his beatification. However, this year Pope Francis considered that the figure of the Venezuelan doctor met the requirements to exempt the approval of a second miracle from the process, thus declaring his canonization in an extraordinary manner.

It should be noted that, immediately after his death in 1919, devotion to the “doctor of the poor” spread among all Venezuelans, with thousands of healing stories that are attributed to his intercession throughout the decades.

Father Magdaleno Álvarez, rector of the sanctuary located in Hernández’s hometown, has assured who always “put himself at the service of whoever needed it, thus becoming a person admired by everyone.”

As has happened with the Venezuelan blessed, the Holy See can dispense with some formal steps and declare the sainthood of a person equipolently, granting the same recognition and authority as a traditional canonization.

Some modern cases

Although the Catholic Encyclopedia points out that currently this type of canonization “has fallen into disuse,” there are several recent cases of candidates for sainthood who have been elevated to the altars in an extraordinary way.

In 2015, Pope Francis canonized Saint Junípero Serra, great evangelizer of California in the United States, through the equivalent means. That year, Francisco explained that this mechanism “is used when for many years a man or woman is blessed and is venerated by the people of God and in practice this person is venerated as a saint.”

“Thus the miracle process does not take place. These people who for centuries, perhaps are on this path,” he added.

More recently, in September of this yearthe 16 Carmelite martyrs of Compiègne were canonized, also through the equivalent means, authorized by the late Argentine Pontiff in December 2024.