The Catholic Church follows an in-depth process in order to declare someone a saint. There are four steps of canonization in the Church: 1. Servant of God Five years after the person has died, the process can begin. The bishop of the diocese where the person died can decide to open the cause of canonization. This begins an investigation into the life of the person. The investigation determines if person lived a life of heroic virtue or died by martyrdom. Once the investigation is complete, a doc