The role of the physician in certifying miracles in the canonization process of the Catholic Church III.

Physicians play a very important role in the theological processes known as beatification canonization in the Catholic Church. In the first millennium of the Christian era, martyrs and other individuals who lived exemplary lives of Christian perfection in the opinion of the faithful in their locale were venerated as holy persons who had already obtained heaven upon their deaths. Thus, "saints" and their cults were created by action of local Christian communities. Bishops gradually recognized that such action was neither in the best interests of the local community of faithful Christians nor of its Church and Bishop. The creation of "saints" by local acclamatory action often leads to error, scandal, and heresy. In the beginning of the second millennium of the Christian era, the Popes gradually centralized this theological process under their direction. In the process which was developed, physicians were an essential group in certifying to the ecclesiastical authorities that a physical cure produced by a miracle was inexplicable by current medical knowledge. This paper subsequently describes this process of development as well as the special role of physicians in it.