In the Catholic Church, Servant of God is the style used for a person who has been posthumously declared "heroic in virtue" during the investigation and process leading to canonisation as a saint. [1]
The term is used in the first of the four steps in the canonization process. The next step is being declared Venerable , upon a decree of heroism or martyrdom by the honored. That is followed by beatification, with the title of Blessed . After the confirmation of miracles resulting from the intercession of the honored, the final step is canonization, where the honored would receive the title of Saint .
The following is an incomplete list of people currently declared to be a Servant of God. The list is in alphabetical order by Christian name but, if necessary, by surname or the place or attribute part of the name.
Servant of God | Year of death | Year declared Servant of God | Notes / References |
---|---|---|---|
Adrienne von Speyr | 1967 | 2018 | Swiss theologian and physician |
Alcide De Gasperi | 1954 | 1993 | Prime Minister of Italy |
Afonso Sanches, Lord of Albuquerque | 1329 | 1723 | Portuguese noble |
Ángel Herrera Oria | 1968 | 1996 | Spanish cardinal |
Angela Iacobellis | 1961 | 1991 | |
Antoni Gaudí | 1926 | 2000 | |
Anita Moreno | 1977 | 2018 | Panamanian laywoman [2] |
Akash Bashir | 2015 | 2022 | Pakistani security guard and martyr |
Antony Thachuparambil | 1963 | 2009 | |
Bernardin Gantin | 2008 | 2025 | Dean of the College of Cardinals |
Barbora Žagarietė | 1648 | 2015 | |
Bartolomé de las Casas | 1566 | 2002 | Spanish priest |
Bastiampillai Anthonipillai Thomas | 1964 | 2006 | founder of the Rosarians Order |
Pope Benedict XIII | 1730 | 1755 | |
Black Elk | 1950 | 2017 | [3] Catechist |
Blandina Segale | 1941 | 2015 | |
Simon Bruté | 1839 | 2005 | First Bishop of Vincennes, Indiana and spiritual director to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton |
Buenaventura Codina y Augerolas | 1857 | 1978 | Spanish bishop |
Carlo Braga | 1971 | 2013 | Italian Missionary |
Giuseppe Castagnetti | 1965 | 2009 | Roman Catholic politician |
Catherine Doherty | 1985 | 2000 | Russian writer and founder of the Madonna House Apostolate |
Cecilia Rosa de Jesús Talangpaz | 1731 | 1999 | |
Charles Journet | 1975 | Swiss theologian and cardinal | |
Chiara Corbella Petrillo | 2012 | 2018 | |
Cícero Romão Batista | 1934 | 2022 | Professed priest |
Dalisay Lazaga | 1971 | 2012 | |
Darwin Ramos | 2012 | 2019 | Street child, Duchenne muscular dystrophy |
Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin | 1840 | 2005 | Russian aristocrat, founder of Loretto, Pennsylvania |
Dionisia de Santa María Mitas Talangpaz | 1732 | 1999 | Filipino nun |
Domingos Chohachi Nakamura | 1940 | 2002 | Japanese priest and missionary |
Dorothy Day | 1980 | 2000 | American social activist |
Edward J. Flanagan | 1948 | 2012 | |
Eileen Rosaline O'Connor | 1921 | 2018 | Co-founder of the Society of Our Lady's Nurses for the Poor |
Elena of Montenegro, Queen of Italy | 1952 | 2001 | |
Elisabeth Leseur | 1914 | 1934 | French mystic |
Élisabeth of France | 1794 | 1953 | martyred during French Revolution |
Eliswa Vakayil | 1831 | 2008 | Indian nun |
Emil Kapaun | 1951 | 1993 | U.S. Army Chaplain during the Korean War |
Emilia Anne Wojtyła | 1929 | 2020 | mother of Pope John Paul II [4] |
Emiliano Tardif | 1999 | 2010 | |
Eugenio Borg | 1967 | 1997 | First Superior General of the Society of Christian Doctrine (M.U.S.E.U.M.) |
Euzebiusz Huchracki | 1942 | 2003 | martyred in Schloss Hartheim [5] |
Ezechiele Ramin | 1985 | 2017 | Italian missionary priest martyred in Brazil |
Ferdinando Casagrande | 1944 | 1998 | martyred in Marzabotto |
Fidelis Thaliath | 2008 | 2021 | Indian nun |
Floripes Dornellas de Jesus | 1999 | 2005 | Brazilian mystic |
Francis II of the Two Sicilies | 1894 | 2020 | King of the Two Sicilies |
Francis Xavier Ford | 1952 | Bishop of Kaying | |
Francisco Rodrigues da Cruz | 1948 | 1951 | Portuguese priest |
François-Marie-Benjamin Richard | 1908 | Archbishop of Paris | |
Frank Duff | 1980 | 1996 | Founder of the Legion of Mary |
Geevarghese Ivanios | 1953 | 2007 | Archbishop of Trivandrum |
George Vakayil | 1931 | 2013 | Indian priest [6] [7] |
Gerard Raymond | 1932 | 1968 | French-Canadian seminarian |
Gordon Anthony Pantin | 2000 | 2013 | Archbishop of Port of Spain [8] |
Helena Kmieć | 2017 | 2024 | Polish missionary [9] |
Xu Guangqi | 1633 | 1933 (redeclared 2011) | |
Hans Urs von Balthasar | 1988 | 2018 | Swiss theologian and priest |
Hélder Pessoa Câmara | 1999 | 2015 | Archbishop of Olinda e Recife and cofounder of the Episcopal Conference of Brazil |
Henry II the Pious | 1241 | 2015 | Polish monarch |
Henryk Szuman | 1939 | 2003 | martyred in Bydgoszcz [10] |
Ida Mari | 1981 | ||
Isaac Hecker | 1888 | 2008 | Founder of the Paulist Fathers |
Isabella I of Castile | 1504 | 1974 | Queen of Castille and Leon |
Jacques Hamel | 2016 | 2017 | French Catholic priest, killed in an attack, qualified as a martyr by Christians including Pope Francis. |
James II of England | 1701 | 1734 | Jacobite claimant to the throne of England |
Johann Baptist Reus | 1985 | 1994 | German priest |
John Pozzobon | 1947 | 1953 | Brazilian Permanent deacon |
John Hardon | 2000 | 2002 | American priest |
John Peter Savarinayagam | 1979 | 2019 | Capuchin Priest |
Józef Cyrek | 1940 | 1994 | Polish writer |
Jules Chevalier | 1907 | 2012 | Professed priest and founder of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart and the DOLSH Congregation |
Julius Nyerere | 1999 | 2005 | First President of Tanzania |
Karol Józef Wojtyła Sr. | 1941 | 2020 | father of Pope John Paul II [4] |
Léo Tarcísio Gonçalves Pereira | 2007 | 2020 | Brazilian Dehonian priest |
Luciano Mendes de Almeida | 2006 | 2014 | Bishop of Mariana |
Luigi Giussani | 2005 | 2012 | Founder of Communion and Liberation |
Luis Chávez | 1987 | 2001 | predecessor to Oscar Romero |
Luis Cáncer | 1549 | 2015 | [11] Spanish missionary |
Luisa Piccarreta | 1947 | 2006 | |
Madeleine Delbrêl | 1964 | 2018 | |
Maria Clotilde of Savoy | 1911 | 1942 | |
Marcel Van | 1959 | 1997 | |
Maria Esperanza de Bianchini | 2004 | 2010 | |
Marie Gertrude Gros | 1905 | 2012 | |
Marta Obregón Rodríguez | 1969 | 2011 | Martyred for defending her chastity [12] |
Mathew Kavukattu | 1969 | 1994 | Archbishop of Changanassery |
Mathew Makil | 1914 | 2009 | |
Áron Márton | 1980 | 1998 | Bishop of Alba Iulia; declared Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in 1999. |
Matilde Salem | 1961 | 1961 | Syrian laywoman |
Matteo Ricci | 1610 | 1984 (redeclared 2010) | |
Maurice Michael Otunga | 2003 | 2010 | The first cardinal of Kenya |
Michelle Duppong | 2015 | 2022 | FOCUS Missionary [13] |
Moises Crespo Gonzalez | 1980 | 2015 | Panamanian Augustinian Priest [14] |
Leonia Nastał | 1940 | 2016 | Polish nun [15] |
Patrick Ryan | 1878 | 2016 | |
Pedro Arrupe | 1991 | 2018 | Spanish Basque Jesuit priest and first responder to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima |
Piotr Szarek | 1939 | 1994 | martyred during Occupation of Poland |
Pope Pius VII | 1823 | 2007 | |
Prosper Guéranger | 1875 | 2005 | |
Rafael Merry del Val | 1930 | 1953 | Spanish cardinal |
Raymond FC Mascarenhas | 1960 | 2008 | |
Reynolds Purackal | 1988 | 2010 | |
Romano Guardini | 1968 | 2017 | Italian priest and philospher |
Rubén Isidro Alonso | 1992 | 2014 | Uruguayan Streetwise Priest |
Stefano Gobbi | 2011 | 2024 | Priest and Founder of the Marian Movement of Priests |
Salvo D'Acquisto | 1943 | 2001 | Italian policeman. |
Santa Scorese | 1991 | 1998 | Martyred for defending her chastity [16] |
Sepé Tiaraju | 1756 | 2017 | Guarani Leader [17] |
Shahbaz Bhatti | 2011 | 2016 | Pakistani politician |
Stanisław Wiórek | 1939 | 1994 | Martyred during the German Occupation of Poland |
Terence Cooke | 1983 | 1992 | Archbishop of New York and Cardinal |
Theodore Foley | 1974 | 2008 | Superior general of the Passionists. |
Thea Bowman | 1990 | 1990 | nun |
Therese Neumann | 1962 | 2005 | German mystic |
Thomas Cooray | 1988 | 2011 | Sri Lankan cardinal |
Toni Zweifel | 1989 | 2018 | Swiss engineer and founder of the Limmat Foundation |
Trương Bửu Diệp | 1946 | 2014 | Vietnamese priest |
Ubaldo Marchioni | 1944 | 1998 | Martyred in Marzabotto |
Vincent R. Capodanno | 1967 | 2006 | A United States Navy Chaplain who was killed in the line of duty |
Vital Maria Gonçalves de Oliveira | 1878 | 1994 | Bishop of Olinda |
Vivian Uchechi Ogu | 1995 | 2009 | Martyred for defending her chastity [18] |
Walter Ciszek | 1984 | 1990 | Polish=American priest and missionary |
Willi Graf | 1943 | 2017 | member of the German Resistance |
William Finnemann | 1942 | 1999 | |
Zilda Arns Neumann | 2010 | 2015 | Brazilian Brazilian physician and philanthropist |