TEARING APART OUR CATHOLIC CHURCH

I pray for our Pope's Benedict, and Francis, every night, but I feel that Pope Francis is doing to our religion exactly what the Democrats are doing to the USA. Weakening it, and eventually destruction. A good example it the canonization process: Prior to Vatican II the Pope (and prior to the Middle Ages, the Bishops) needed to sign off on the process of canonization, you were required to have two or more miracles performed throughout your life (it's only one miracle now), two or more miracles after you were beatified (now it's 1), witnesses had to attest to these miracles, and there had to be a written history of the persons life and miracles. I'm not sure if these last two are requirements today...doesn't seem like it to me. In 1234 Pope Gregory IX made the Holy See the only authority on canonization (e.g. the Pope was now the only one who could canonize). The Congregation of Rites was formed in 1587 and it was given authority over canonization, more specifically, they (I think they were bishops) were in charge of verifying miracles and virtues. Medical examiners were also part of this Congregation. Traditionally people were canonized 180+ years after they died. A rule in 1917 was made that required you to wait 50+ years before even putting forth a candidate for canonization, this was to guard against imposters etc. It was a centralized process with the Holy See as the main authority. After Vatican II the process was decentralized, the Pope still reviewed everything, but local church officials are now in charge of gathering and verifying evidence. The wait period was reduced to 5 years. The congregation for the Cause of Saints was formed, it consists of 25 cardinals and Bishops, and they decide if the individual led a virtuous life. If no miracles were performed then the individual is deemed "Venerable." If the individual performed one miracle while living and one after beatification then they are considered a saint. There were reforms in 1983 that allowed beatification to take place anywhere in the world without the Pope's presence. The average beatification rate (beginning in the 1500's, no formal records exist before then) per Pope prior to John Paul II was 0 to 2, meaning that each Pope only canonized 2 people maximum during their tenure. The number spiked up to 12 for John Paul the II and 11 for Pope Benedict XIV. John Paul the II canonized approximately 3 people per year and Benedict canonized 6. All the math and stuff is in the 2nd link. http://www.vatican.edu/roman_curia/congregations/csaints/documents/rc_con_csaints_doc_07021983_norme_en.html Outline of what's required today and the steps. http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/barro/files/saints_paper_020910.pdf Old requirements compared to new.