How are saints made? A primer on miracles, martyrs, virtues

Lengthy historic investigations. Decrees of “heroic virtues.” Miraculous cures.

The Vatican’s complicated saint-making process has long fascinated Catholics and non-Catholics alike, and will be on display Saturday when Pope Francis canonizes two children whose “visions” of the Virgin Mary 100 years ago turned the sleepy farming town of Fatima into a major Catholic pilgrimage site.

Francis recently reformed the process to address financial abuses that had long tarnished the Vatican’s saint-making machine, but the basic criteria remain.

Pope declares Mother Teresa a saint and model of mercy

Pope Francis declared Mother Teresa a saint on Sunday, praising the tiny nun for having taken in society's most unwanted and for having shamed world leaders for the "crimes of poverty they themselves created."

Francis held up Mother Teresa as the model for a Catholic Church that goes to the peripheries to find poor, wounded souls during a canonization Mass that drew an estimated 120,000 people — rich and poor, powerful and homeless — to a sun-filled St. Peter's Square.

"Let us carry her smile in our hearts and give it to those whom we meet along our journey, especially those who suffer," Francis said in his homily.

Pope says Mother Teresa to be made a saint on Sept. 4

Mother Teresa will be made a saint on Sept. 4.

Pope Francis set the canonization date Tuesday, paving the way for the nun who cared for the poorest of the poor to become the centerpiece of his yearlong focus on the Catholic Church's merciful side.

The announcement was expected after Francis in December approved a second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa's intercession — the final hurdle to make her a saint. The actual date falls on the eve of the 19th anniversary of her death.

Pope says Mother Teresa to be made a saint on Sept. 4

Mother Teresa will be made a saint on Sept. 4.

Pope Francis set the canonization date Tuesday, paving the way for the nun who cared for the poorest of the poor to become the centerpiece of his yearlong focus on the Catholic Church's merciful side.

The announcement was expected after Francis in December approved a second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa's intercession — the final hurdle to make her a saint. The actual date falls on the eve of the 19th anniversary of her death.

Mother Teresa to be made a saint after pope OKs miracle

Mother Teresa, the tiny, stooped nun who cared for the poorest of the poor in the slums of India and beyond, will be declared a saint next year after Pope Francis approved a miracle attributed to her intercession.

The Vatican on Friday set no date for the canonization, but it is widely believed that it will take place in the first week of September to coincide with the 19th anniversary of Mother Teresa's death and during Francis' Holy Year of Mercy.

Questions and answers about Mother Teresa and making saints

The Catholic Church makes saints to provide role models for the faithful, and Pope Francis has followed in the footsteps of his predecessors in churning them out at a rapid clip. The process is cloaked in secrecy and open to criticism, given that it deals with science-defying miracles, politicized choices and significant sums of money, as was recently revealed in some blockbuster books on Vatican finance.

But saints aren't going away anytime soon, and Francis has actually made the process easier in some ways by doing away with the miracle requirement for several high-profile saints.

Mother Teresa and sainthood: Here are the 5 steps to getting there

On Thursday, Pope Francis approved a decree from the Congregation of Causes of Saints that attributed a miracle to Mother Teresa, the woman who spent her life ministering to the poor in India. With that approval, Mother Teresa , born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Skopje, Macedonia, will be declared a saint. 

According to The Associated Press, no date has been set for the canonization, but Italian media have speculated that the ceremony may take place in the first week of September. Mother Teresa died on Sept. 5, 1997.   

A British medical artist and crime solving science bring you the unexpected face of Jesus

The face of arguably the most famous person in history was a mystery until forensic anthropology put together Jesus’ probable face.

Without a physical description in the Bible or any other known writings, remains from which to find DNA, the presence of a skeleton or skull, or original drawings, the image of Jesus through history was left to the artist’s imagination. As a general rule their imagination did not stray too far, typically depicting Jesus with features reflecting their own cultural standard for a good looking man.