Saints — Chronology

Canonization paths of Marian-apparition seer saints (1588–2023)

An open, source-referenced chronology of the causes of the Catholic saints tied to the major Marian apparitions of Guadalupe, the Rue du Bac, Lourdes and Fátima — the dated acts from the introduction of a cause through the decrees on virtues and miracles to beatification and canonization, with the institutional reforms that shaped them.

Last updated: 2026-08-05

About

Work-in-progress dataset compiled from public sources (see references). Sanctity and miracles are recorded here as Church judgments: the dataset records who declared what and when, citing the declaring document, and does not assert supernatural claims as fact. A decree recognising a miracle is recorded as the recognition act, never as a statement that a person was cured, and where a decree names no beneficiary none is supplied from press accounts. A canonization is never recorded as authenticating an apparition. Contested claims are attributed to their authors; dates not yet verified against a primary source are flagged with a ? mark, and the note beneath such an event says why. Corrections against primary sources are welcome.

What it is
A chronology of how five seers of major Marian apparitions were declared blessed and saint — who declared what, when, and on the strength of which document.[1] [5]
Initial scope
Five saints: Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin (Guadalupe, 1531), Catherine Labouré (Rue du Bac, 1830), Bernadette Soubirous (Lourdes, 1858), and Francisco and Jacinta Marto (Fátima, 1917).[3] [13] [12] [10]
Youngest non-martyr saints
Francisco Marto (1908–1919) and Jacinta Marto (1910–1920), canonized by Pope Francis on 13 May 2017, are the youngest persons canonized by the Catholic Church who were not martyrs.[5] [19]
Presiding popes
Pius XI (Bernadette's beatification 1925 and canonization 1933; Catherine Labouré's beatification 1933), Pius XII (Labouré's canonization 1947), John Paul II (Juan Diego 1990 and 2002; the Martos' beatification 2000), Francis (the Martos' canonization 2017).[11] [6] [1] [5]
The steps a cause is made of
Introduction of the cause (Servant of God), a decree on heroic virtues (Venerable), a decree recognising a miracle, beatification (Blessed), a further miracle decree, canonization (Saint). Each is a dated act with a document. Two paths here depart from it: Juan Diego was beatified by confirmation of an immemorial cult, and Lúcia dos Santos' cause has reached Venerable and stopped there.[28] [27] [31]

Chronology

Key events in chronological order. A ? flag marks dates not yet verified against a primary source.

4 decades with no recorded events (1540–1579)24 decades with no recorded events (1590–1829)2 decades with no recorded events (1880–1899) 153115881830187919072023
  1. 15311531-12-09 ?

    Tepeyac Hill, Mexico City (New Spain)

    Guadalupe apparitions reported by Juan Diego

    According to the Guadalupan account received by the Church, the Virgin Mary appeared to the indigenous layman Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin between 9 and 12 December 1531, and the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was left on his tilma. The Vatican's canonization biography relates this account; its sixteenth-century documentation is debated among historians.[3] [16]

    Traditional dates as given in the Vatican canonization biography; contemporary sixteenth-century documentation of the account is debated among historians.

  2. 4 decades with no recorded events (1540–1579)
  3. 15881588-01-22

    Rome, Papal States

    Sixtus V establishes the Sacred Congregation of Rites

    The apostolic constitution Immensa Aeterni Dei created the Sacred Congregation of Rites and entrusted the instruction of causes of canonization to it. That body issued every decree in the Labouré and Soubirous causes below, and its name heads each of them; John Paul II's 1983 constitution on the causes of saints recites its establishment on this date.[28]

  4. 24 decades with no recorded events (1590–1829)
  5. 18301830-07-18

    Chapel of the Daughters of Charity, rue du Bac, Paris, France

    Rue du Bac apparitions reported by Catherine Labouré

    Catherine Labouré, a novice of the Daughters of Charity, reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary in the mother-house chapel: on the night of 18–19 July 1830 and again on 27 November 1830, when she reported the vision from which the Miraculous Medal was struck in 1832.[13] [17]

  6. 18581858-02-11

    Grotto of Massabielle, Lourdes, France

    Lourdes apparitions reported by Bernadette Soubirous

    Bernadette Soubirous, aged fourteen, reported the first of eighteen apparitions of the Virgin Mary at the grotto of Massabielle; the series ran from 11 February to 16 July 1858. Bishop Laurence of Tarbes declared the apparitions worthy of belief in 1862.[12] [18]

  7. 18761876-12-31

    Hospice of Enghien, Paris, France

    Death of Catherine Labouré

    Catherine Labouré died at the hospice of Enghien in Paris, where she had served the elderly for over forty years. Her identity as the rue du Bac seer, kept quiet during her life, became generally known only around her death.[7] [25] [17] [13]

    Flag cleared against the Holy See's own acts. The Congregation of Rites' decree of 13 February 1933 states that she died in the Paris hospice 'die 31 Decembris mensis anno 1876' (AAS vol. 25, p. 161), the 1933 beatification letter places her death on the last day of December 1876 in her seventieth year, and the 1947 canonization formula fixes her feast on her dies natalis, 31 December (AAS vol. 39, p. 378). The bootstrap carried the date on secondary sources alone.

  8. 18791879-04-16

    Convent of Saint-Gildard, Nevers, France

    Death of Bernadette Soubirous

    Bernadette died aged thirty-five at the convent of Saint-Gildard, mother house of the Sisters of Charity of Nevers, which she had entered in 1866.[20] [18] [12]

    Flag cleared against a primary document: the 1913 decree introducing her cause gives her death as 16 April 1879, in her thirty-fifth year (AAS vol. 5, p. 436). The bootstrap carried the date on secondary sources alone.

  9. 2 decades with no recorded events (1880–1899)
  10. 19071907-12-12

    Rome, Italy

    Pius X signs the introduction of Catherine Labouré's cause

    The ordinary processes having been completed in the Paris curia, Pius X signed the Commission of Introduction of the Cause by his own hand, opening the Roman phase before the Congregation of Rites. The 1933 beatification letter recites the year and the day (AAS vol. 25, pp. 369–370); the 1946 decree on the canonization miracles dates the introduction to 1907 and names Pius X (AAS vol. 39, p. 37).[7] [25]

  11. 19131913-08-13

    Rome, Italy

    Pius X signs the introduction of Bernadette Soubirous' cause

    The Congregation of Rites resolved on 5 August 1913 that the Commission of Introduction should be signed if it pleased the pope, and Pius X signed it on the thirteenth of the same month, opening the Roman phase of the cause of the Servant of God Sister Marie-Bernard Soubirous (AAS vol. 5, p. 436). The same decree records her death as 16 April 1879, in her thirty-fifth year.[20]

  12. 19171917-05-13

    Cova da Iria, Fátima, Portugal

    Fátima apparitions reported by the three shepherd children

    Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto reported six monthly apparitions of the Virgin Mary between 13 May and 13 October 1917. The bishop of Leiria declared the apparitions worthy of belief on 13 October 1930.[10] [4]

  13. 19191919-04-04

    Aljustrel, Fátima, Portugal

    Death of Francisco Marto

    Francisco Marto died at home in Aljustrel, aged ten, a victim of the influenza pandemic; the Shrine of Fátima records his death under 4 April 1919.[8] [19]

  14. 19201920-02-20

    Dona Estefânia hospital, Lisbon, Portugal

    Death of Jacinta Marto

    Jacinta Marto died in a Lisbon hospital, aged nine, after surgery for purulent pleurisy following influenza. Her liturgical memorial is kept on 20 February.[14] [19]

  15. 19231923-11-18 ?

    Rome, Italy

    Bernadette Soubirous declared Venerable

    The Sacred Congregation of Rites decreed the heroic degree of the theological and cardinal virtues of the Servant of God Sister Marie-Bernard Soubirous, after the general congregation held before Pius XI on 7 August 1923 (AAS vol. 15, pp. 592–596).[21]

    The printed decree dates itself two ways. Its subscription reads decimo nono calendas Decembres anno MDCCCCXXIII — the nineteenth day before the Kalends of December, that is 13 November — while the decree's own narrative says the pope chose 'this present day, the twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost', which in 1923 fell on Sunday 18 November; 13 November was a Tuesday. The volume's chronological index compounds the problem by filing the decree under 'nov. 31', a date that does not exist. Secondary accounts give 18 November. The dataset carries 18 November flagged rather than choose between a Holy See text and itself.

  16. 19251925-05-01

    Rome, Italy

    Two cures declared miracles in Bernadette Soubirous' beatification cause

    On the feast of the Apostles Philip and James, Pius XI with the Congregation of Rites declared both proposed miracles established: an instantaneous and complete recovery from tuberculosis of the acute form with occlusion of the cavity, and a religious sister's recovery from a gastric ulcer, which the decree places at the Servant of God's tomb. The decree names both (AAS vol. 17, pp. 253–256). The decree that it was safe to proceed to beatification followed on 2 June 1925 (p. 313).[22]

  17. 19251925-06-14

    Rome, Italy

    Bernadette Soubirous beatified by Pius XI

    Pius XI beatified Bernadette Soubirous. The apostolic letter granting that the Venerable Marie-Bernard Soubirous be called Blessed is dated at St Peter's under the Fisherman's ring on 14 June 1925 (AAS vol. 17, pp. 296–301); the Sanctuary of Lourdes' centenary notice reproduces the declaration.[22] [11] [18]

  18. 19311931-07-19

    Rome, Italy

    Catherine Labouré declared Venerable

    The Sacred Congregation of Rites decreed that the theological and cardinal virtues of the Servant of God Catherine Labouré were established in the heroic degree, and ordered the decree published on this date (AAS vol. 23, pp. 381–384). The 1933 beatification letter repeats the date. The judgment is on how she lived; it decides nothing about the 1830 apparitions she reported.[23] [7]

  19. 19331933-02-13

    Rome, Italy

    Two cures declared miracles in Catherine Labouré's beatification cause

    Pius XI, with the Congregation of Rites, declared that two miracles were established as worked by God through the intercession of the Venerable Catherine Labouré — a recovery from acute diffuse purulent peritonitis and a boy's recovery from Pott's disease of the cervical spine. The decree names both subjects and their diagnoses (AAS vol. 25, p. 161). What is dated here is the declaration; the dataset does not assert that the cures were miraculous, only that the Congregation judged them so. The decree that it was safe to proceed to beatification followed on 12 March 1933 (p. 217).[7]

  20. 19331933-05-28

    Rome, Italy

    Catherine Labouré beatified by Pius XI

    Pius XI beatified Catherine Labouré. The apostolic letter Horti conclusi, dated 28 May 1933, grants that she be called Blessed and that her office and Mass be celebrated in the dioceses of Dijon and Paris and in the houses of the Daughters of Charity and the Congregation of the Mission.[7] [17]

    Flag cleared. The apostolic letter Horti conclusi, by which Pius XI granted that the Venerable Catherine Labouré be thenceforth called Blessed, is dated at St Peter's under the Fisherman's ring on 28 May 1933 (AAS vol. 25, pp. 367–371). The bootstrap could cite the volume only at volume level.

  21. 19331933-05-31

    Rome, Italy

    Further cures declared miracles in Bernadette Soubirous' canonization cause

    The Congregation of Rites decreed the miracles required for the canonization of Blessed Marie-Bernard Soubirous (AAS vol. 25, p. 318); the decree that it was safe to proceed to the canonization followed on 2 July 1933 (p. 377). These are judgments on cures attributed to her intercession after her beatification, and are recorded here as such.[7]

  22. 19331933-12-08

    Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome, Italy

    Bernadette Soubirous canonized by Pius XI

    Pius XI canonized Bernadette Soubirous on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, 8 December 1933, the date announced in the consistory acts printed in Acta Apostolicae Sedis and confirmed by the Sanctuary of Lourdes' centenary notice.[7] [11] [18]

  23. 19461946-05-26

    Rome, Italy

    Two further cures declared miracles in Catherine Labouré's canonization cause

    The canonization cause having been resumed in 1936, the Congregation of Rites declared two further miracles established through the intercession of Blessed Catherine Labouré: a recovery from severe cardiac insufficiency with renal insufficiency in June 1933, and a Daughter of Charity's recovery from a severe adhesion syndrome on 21 May 1937. The decree names both women (AAS vol. 38, pp. 443–445). Again the recognition act is the event. The decree that it was safe to proceed to canonization followed on 8 December 1946 (AAS vol. 39, pp. 37–38).[24] [25]

  24. 19471947-07-27

    Saint Peter's Basilica, Rome, Italy

    Catherine Labouré canonized by Pius XII

    Pius XII canonized Catherine Labouré in St Peter's Basilica, declaring her a saint and fixing her memory on 31 December, her dies natalis. The next day he received the canonization pilgrims in the Court of Saint Damasus and praised the newly canonized 'saint of silence'.[25] [6] [17]

    Flag cleared. Acta Apostolicae Sedis heads the acts 'in the solemn canonization of Blessed Catherine Labouré, virgin, on the twenty-seventh day of the month of July in the year 1947, held in the Vatican Basilica', and the volume's diary indexes the rite under 27 July (AAS vol. 39, pp. 377–378, 414). The bootstrap had only Pius XII's address of the following day, which confirms the canonization but does not date the rite.

  25. 19521952-04-30

    Leiria, Portugal

    Informative processes on Francisco and Jacinta Marto opened at Leiria

    José Alves Correia da Silva, bishop of Leiria, opened the informative process on the reputation of holiness and the virtues of Francisco Marto, and Jacinta's alongside it. The diocesan phase closed in 1979 — Jacinta's on 2 June, Francisco's on 1 August. It was the same diocese, and largely the same generation of officials, that had judged the 1917 apparitions worthy of belief in 1930; the two judgments remain distinct in kind.[29]

  26. 19691969-05-08

    Vatican City

    The Congregation of Rites is divided; the Congregation for the Causes of Saints is created

    Paul VI's apostolic constitution Sacra Rituum Congregatio put two dicasteries in place of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, giving one the regulation of divine worship and the other the causes of saints. Earlier that year, on 19 March, his apostolic letter Sanctitas clarior had reduced the proof-gathering to a single cognitional process conducted by the bishop. Every act in this chronology before 1969 is an act of the Congregation of Rites; every act after it belongs to the new dicastery.[28]

  27. 19831983-01-25

    Vatican City

    Divinus perfectionis Magister recasts the law of causes

    John Paul II's apostolic constitution rebuilt the procedure: the inquiry is conducted by the diocesan bishop, its material is worked up into a Positio under a relator using critical hagiographical method, and medical experts examine an alleged cure separately from the examination of virtues. The Code of Canon Law was promulgated the same day. This is the main reason the older and newer paths in this chronology do not look alike — Labouré's and Soubirous' causes ran under the Congregation of Rites, the Martos' and Lúcia's under the reformed procedure.[28]

  28. 19891989-05-13

    Vatican City

    Francisco and Jacinta Marto declared Venerable

    John Paul II promulgated the decrees on the heroic virtues of the two Servants of God, on the anniversary of the first reported apparition. Whether children could exhibit heroic virtue at all was the contested question in the cause; the decrees answer it for these two, and answer nothing about what the children reported seeing.[29]

  29. 19901990-04-09

    Vatican City

    Juan Diego's holiness of life and immemorial cult declared

    The Congregation for the Causes of Saints promulgated a decree on the holiness of life of the Servant of God Juan Diego and on the cult paid to him from time immemorial, after its historical consultors met on 30 January 1990, its theologians on 9 March and its cardinals and bishops on 3 April. This is the route of confirmation of an immemorial cult, which is why his path carries no decree on heroic virtues and no beatification miracle — the one respect in which it differs structurally from every other cause here (AAS vol. 94, p. 488; AAS vol. 82, pp. 853–855).[27] [26]

  30. 19901990-05-06

    Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City, Mexico

    Juan Diego beatified by John Paul II

    During his visit to Mexico, John Paul II beatified Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin together with the child martyrs of Tlaxcala and José María de Yermo y Parres (homily of 6 May 1990, vatican.va).[2]

  31. 19991999-06-28

    Vatican City

    A cure declared a miracle in the Martos' beatification cause

    The decree on the miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servants of God Francisco and Jacinta Marto was promulgated on this date, opening the way to their beatification. The dicastery describes the case as a woman's recovery from paraplegia of some twenty-two years' standing, from probable transverse myelitis, in the absence of psychiatric pathology. It does not name her, and no name is supplied here from press or shrine accounts.[29]

  32. 20002000-05-13

    Shrine of Fátima, Portugal

    Francisco and Jacinta Marto beatified by John Paul II

    John Paul II beatified the two shepherd children at the Shrine of Fátima on the anniversary of the first apparition, calling them 'two candles which God lit' (homily of 13 May 2000, vatican.va).[4]

  33. 20012001-12-20

    Vatican City

    A cure declared a miracle in Juan Diego's canonization cause

    The Congregation for the Causes of Saints decreed that a miracle was established as worked by God through the intercession of Blessed Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin. The decree names the subject, Juan José Barragán Silva, who on 3 May 1990 fell some ten metres and sustained multiple fractures of the skull, and describes the recovery as very rapid, complete and lasting. A diocesan inquiry ran in the Mexico City curia in 1990–1994, the dicastery's medical council met on 26 February 1998, its theologians on 11 May 2001 and its cardinals and bishops on 21 September 2001 (AAS vol. 94, pp. 488–489). The dated event is the declaration.[27]

  34. 20022002-07-31

    Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico City, Mexico

    Juan Diego canonized by John Paul II

    John Paul II canonized Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, calling him in the canonization homily the first indigenous saint of the American continent (31 July 2002, vatican.va).[1] [3]

  35. 20052005-02-13

    Carmel of Saint Teresa, Coimbra, Portugal

    Death of Lúcia dos Santos

    The third and eldest of the Fátima seers, Sister Maria Lúcia of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart, died at the Carmel of Saint Teresa in Coimbra aged 97, having lived enclosed there since 1948. She is the only seer in this chronology who has not been canonized, and her cause is the only one here still running.[34] [31]

  36. 20082008-04-30

    Carmel of Saint Teresa, Coimbra, Portugal

    Diocesan inquiry into Lúcia dos Santos' cause opened at Coimbra

    Albino Mamede Cleto, bishop of Coimbra, opened the beatification process at the Carmel of Saint Teresa. On 13 February 2008, the third anniversary of her death, Benedict XVI had derogated from the five-year interval that article 9 of the Normae servandae requires before a cause may begin, on the petition of the bishop of Coimbra; Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, read the decision publicly at the Carmel. The diocesan inquiry closed on 13 February 2017, after 61 witnesses and 15,483 pages.[34]

  37. 20172017-03-23

    Vatican City

    A cure declared a miracle in the Martos' canonization cause

    Pope Francis received Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and authorised the promulgation of the decree concerning 'the miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Francisco Marto … and of Blessed Jacinta Marto … children of Fátima'. The dicastery's cardinals and bishops had judged the case a true miracle in ordinary session on 21 March. The case is described as a child's recovery from severe cranio-encephalic trauma at Campo Mourão in Brazil in 2013; neither the Holy See press bulletin nor the dicastery's published decree list names the child, and no name is supplied here from press reports.[32] [30] [29]

  38. 20172017-05-13

    Shrine of Fátima, Portugal

    Francisco and Jacinta Marto canonized by Pope Francis

    Pope Francis canonized Francisco and Jacinta Marto at Fátima on the centenary of the first apparition (homily of 13 May 2017, vatican.va). They are the youngest non-martyr saints in the Church's history.[5] [19]

  39. 20232023-06-22

    Vatican City

    Lúcia dos Santos declared Venerable

    Pope Francis received Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, and authorised the promulgation of the decree on the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Lúcia de Jesus e do Coração Imaculado, in the world Lúcia dos Santos. The Positio had been delivered on 13 October 2022, the theological consultors met on 9 March 2023 and the ordinary session on 6 June 2023. Venerable is not beatified and not canonized: a recognised miracle would be required for each.[31] [33] [15] [34]

Key figures

Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin

c. 1474 – 1548 · Mexico (New Spain)

Indigenous Mexican layman; seer of the 1531 Tepeyac apparitions according to the Guadalupan account received by the Church. Beatified 1990 and canonized 2002 by John Paul II. His historicity is debated by some historians — a debate recorded here, not resolved. The life dates given are the traditional ones carried by the Vatican's own canonization biography.[3] [16]

Catherine Labouré

1806-05-02 – 1876-12-31 · France

Daughter of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul; seer of the 1830 rue du Bac apparitions from which the Miraculous Medal derives. Beatified 1933 by Pius XI, canonized 1947 by Pius XII.[17] [13] [6]

Bernadette Soubirous

1844-01-07 – 1879-04-16 · France

Seer of the 1858 Lourdes apparitions; Sister of Charity of Nevers (as Sister Marie-Bernard). Beatified 1925 and canonized 1933, both by Pius XI.[18] [11]

Francisco Marto

1908-06-11 – 1919-04-04 · Portugal

The eldest of the two Marto seers of Fátima; died at ten in the influenza pandemic. Beatified 2000 by John Paul II, canonized 2017 by Pope Francis.[8] [19]

Jacinta Marto

1910-03-05 – 1920-02-20 · Portugal

The youngest Fátima seer; died at nine in Lisbon. Beatified 2000 by John Paul II, canonized 2017 by Pope Francis — the youngest non-martyr saint. The birth date given is the Shrine of Fátima's; older devotional literature gives 11 March 1910 instead.[9] [14] [19]

Lúcia dos Santos

1907-03-28 – 2005-02-13 · Portugal

The third and eldest Fátima seer; Carmelite nun (Sister Lúcia of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart). NOT canonized: Pope Francis authorized the decree on her heroic virtues on 22 June 2023, making her Venerable; her cause continues.[15] [19]

Related organizations

Shrine of Fátima (Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fátima)

Founded 1919 · Cova da Iria, Fátima, Portugal

The founding year given is that of the Chapel of the Apparitions. Custodian of the memory of the 1917 apparitions and of the tombs of Francisco and Jacinta Marto; its published biographies and anniversaries are used here as the shrine's own record — an official but devotional perspective.[10] [8]

Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes

Founded 1858 · Lourdes, France

Shrine at the site of the 1858 apparitions at the grotto of Massabielle; the first chapel there was begun in 1862. Note a common confusion: Bernadette is not buried at Lourdes — she died and lies at the convent of Saint-Gildard in Nevers.[12] [18]

Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal (rue du Bac)

Founded 1815 · 140 rue du Bac, Paris, France

The chapel of the Daughters of Charity mother house, opened in 1815. Site of the 1830 apparitions reported by Catherine Labouré and resting place of her remains; the association's site is used here as the custodian's own record — an official but devotional perspective.[13]

Disambiguation & nuance

Canonizations of apparition seers invite two flattenings: treating the canonization as proof that the apparition happened, and treating everyone connected with an apparition as a canonized saint. This dataset records Church declarations — who declared what, and when — and leaves the supernatural claims themselves unasserted.

Canonizing the seer ≠ authenticating the apparition as fact

A canonization is the Church's judgment on a person's holiness; approval of an apparition ('worthy of belief', declared by the local bishop) is a separate ecclesiastical judgment. Neither is recorded here as a statement that the reported events occurred; both are recorded as dated declarations by named authorities.[5] [12]

Lúcia dos Santos is not a canonized saint

The third Fátima seer, who died in 2005, is Venerable — Pope Francis authorized the decree on her heroic virtues on 22 June 2023 — but she has been neither beatified nor canonized. Her cause continues.[15]

Juan Diego: canonized, and debated

Some historians, notably the Vincentian scholar Stafford Poole, argue the documentary record for Juan Diego's existence is weak; the Holy See examined and rejected these objections before the 2002 canonization. Both the debate and the canonization are matters of record; this dataset asserts neither side of the historical question.[16] [1]

Jacinta Marto's birth date: 5 or 11 March 1910

The Shrine of Fátima gives 5 March 1910 (with baptism on 19 March); older devotional literature often gives 11 March, and so does the Holy See — the decree list for the 2017 canonization miracle records her as 'nata l' 11 marzo 1910'. The dataset records the shrine's date and notes the disagreement rather than resolving it; the Fátima parish baptismal register would settle it.[9] [30] [19]

A miracle decree records a judgment, not a cure

The decrees in this chronology declare that a miracle is established as worked by God through a named intercession. That is a dated act of a Roman dicastery with a document behind it, and it is what the dataset records — never that a person was cured. Some decrees name the person and the diagnosis (Labouré 1933 and 1946, Soubirous 1925, Juan Diego 2001); others describe the case and name nobody (the Marto decrees of 1999 and 2017). Where the dicastery names nobody, no name is supplied here from press or shrine accounts, even where one is widely reported.[27] [29] [32]

Juan Diego was not beatified by the ordinary route

His 1990 act was a decree on holiness of life and on the cult paid to him from time immemorial — the equipollent route — not a decree on heroic virtues followed by a beatification miracle. That is why his path has no Venerable step and no beatification miracle, and why comparing the length of his cause with the Martos' compares two different procedures rather than two different speeds.[26] [27]

References

34 sources · 34 with an Internet Archive fallback. Sources span the spectrum of perspectives by design; contested claims are attributed to their authors.

  1. Homily of John Paul II, Canonization of Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin, Mexico City, 31 July 2002 · 🗄 archived 2026-05-14 vatican.va (Primary document — the canonizing pope's homily at the rite, published by the Holy See.) · official
  2. Homilía de Juan Pablo II, Beatificación de Juan Diego y de otros siervos de Dios, Ciudad de México, 6 de mayo de 1990 · 🗄 archived 2026-03-16 vatican.va (Primary document — the beatification homily, published by the Holy See (Spanish only).) · official
  3. Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin — biography for the canonization · 🗄 archived 2026-02-21 vatican.va · official Official biography prepared for the canonization — the Church's own account, including the traditional 1474 and 1548 dates.
  4. Homily of John Paul II, Beatification of Francisco and Jacinta Marto, Fátima, 13 May 2000 · 🗄 archived 2026-05-17 vatican.va (Primary document — the beatification homily, published by the Holy See.) · official
  5. Homily of Pope Francis, Holy Mass with the Rite of Canonization of Francisco and Jacinta Marto, Fátima, 13 May 2017 · 🗄 archived 2026-02-04 vatican.va (Primary document — the canonization homily, published by the Holy See.) · official
  6. Pie XII, Aux pèlerins réunis à Rome pour la canonisation de sainte Catherine Labouré, 28 juillet 1947 · 🗄 archived 2026-05-18 vatican.va · official Primary document — Pius XII's address the day after the canonization (French only). It confirms the canonization but does not date the rite itself.
  7. Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. 25 (1933) · 🗄 archived 2026-05-28 vatican.va (Acta Apostolicae Sedis) · official Official gazette of the Holy See for 1933. Cited at p. 161 for the decree on the two miracles in Catherine Labouré's beatification cause, at p. 217 for the decree that it was safe to proceed, at pp. 367–371 for the apostolic letter Horti conclusi beatifying her on 28 May 1933, and at pp. 318 and 377 for the corresponding acts in Bernadette Soubirous' canonization cause. The bootstrap cited this volume at volume level only; the acta have since been located inside it.
  8. Saint Francisco Marto was born 110 years ago · 🗄 archived 2026-01-16 Shrine of Fátima · official The shrine's own biographical notice — official custodian record, devotional perspective. Gives Francisco's birth (11 June 1908) and death (4 April 1919).
  9. Today marks the anniversary of Saint Jacinta Marto's birth · 🗄 archived 2026-02-12 Shrine of Fátima · official The shrine's own notice giving Jacinta's birth as 5 March 1910 — official custodian record, devotional perspective.
  10. Narrative of the Apparitions · 🗄 archived 2026-05-29 Shrine of Fátima (The shrine's narrative of the 1917 apparitions — official custodian record, devotional perspective.) · official
  11. 14th June 1925 – 14th June 2025: Centenary of the beatification of Bernadette Soubirous · 🗄 archived 2026-04-12 Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes · official The sanctuary's centenary notice, reproducing the 1925 beatification declaration and confirming the 8 December 1933 canonization — official custodian record.
  12. The Apparitions · 🗄 archived 2026-05-19 Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes (The sanctuary's account of the eighteen 1858 apparitions — official custodian record, devotional perspective.) · official
  13. La Chapelle de la Médaille Miraculeuse, 140 rue du Bac · 🗄 archived 2026-03-15 Association de la Médaille Miraculeuse · official The Vincentian association's presentation of the chapel, dating the two 1830 apparitions — official custodian record, devotional perspective (French).
  14. 20 February: Saint Jacinta Marto — Saint of the day · 🗄 archived 2026-04-21 vaticanstate.va (Vatican City State's saint-of-the-day notice for Jacinta's 20 February memorial — official, summary-level.) · official
  15. Fatima visionary Sr Lucia declared Venerable · 🗄 archived 2026-07-16 Vatican News · news The Holy See's news portal on the 22 June 2023 decree recognizing Lúcia dos Santos' heroic virtues — official media, not the decree text itself; the dicastery register and the press bulletin now carry that.
  16. Juan Diego — Wikipedia · 🗄 archived 2026-07-30 Wikipedia (Tertiary reference used for the historiographical debate and for cross-checking dates; not a primary source.) · encyclopedia
  17. Catherine Labouré — Wikipedia · 🗄 archived 2026-06-28 Wikipedia (Tertiary reference used for biographical dates (birth, death, beatification) pending primary verification.) · encyclopedia
  18. Bernadette Soubirous — Wikipedia · 🗄 archived 2026-07-16 Wikipedia (Tertiary reference used for biographical dates pending primary verification.) · encyclopedia
  19. Francisco and Jacinta Marto — Wikipedia · 🗄 archived 2026-06-24 Wikipedia (Tertiary reference used for biographical dates and the birth-date discrepancy; not a primary source.) · encyclopedia
  20. Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. 5 (1913) · 🗄 archived 2026-04-12 vatican.va (Acta Apostolicae Sedis) · official Official gazette of the Holy See. Cited at p. 436 for the Congregation of Rites decree by which Pius X signed the introduction of Bernadette Soubirous' cause on 13 August 1913; the same decree gives her death as 16 April 1879. Read from the scanned OCR text of the volume published by the Holy See.
  21. Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. 15 (1923) · 🗄 archived 2026-04-30 vatican.va (Acta Apostolicae Sedis) · official Cited at pp. 592–596 for the Congregation of Rites decree on the heroic virtues of Bernadette Soubirous. The volume dates that decree inconsistently — see the note on the 1923 event.
  22. Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. 17 (1925) · 🗄 archived 2026-07-28 vatican.va (Acta Apostolicae Sedis) · official Cited at pp. 253–256 for the decree on the two miracles proposed for Bernadette Soubirous' beatification, at p. 313 for the decree that it was safe to proceed, and at pp. 296–301 for Pius XI's apostolic letter of beatification of 14 June 1925.
  23. Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. 23 (1931) · 🗄 archived 2026-07-27 vatican.va (Acta Apostolicae Sedis) · official Cited at pp. 381–384 for the Congregation of Rites decree of 19 July 1931 on the heroic virtues of Catherine Labouré.
  24. Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. 38 (1946) · 🗄 archived 2026-05-24 vatican.va (Acta Apostolicae Sedis) · official Cited at pp. 443–445 for the Congregation of Rites decree of 26 May 1946 on the two miracles proposed for Catherine Labouré's canonization. The decree names both women and their diagnoses.
  25. Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. 39 (1947) · 🗄 archived 2026-07-30 vatican.va (Acta Apostolicae Sedis) · official Cited at pp. 377–378 for the acts of Pius XII in the canonization of Catherine Labouré, which the volume dates to 27 July 1947, and at pp. 37–38 for the decree of 8 December 1946 that it was safe to proceed. This is the reference that closed the repository's longest-standing dating question.
  26. Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. 82 (1990) · 🗄 archived 2026-05-18 vatican.va (Acta Apostolicae Sedis) · official Cited at pp. 853–855 for John Paul II's apostolic letter granting the liturgical cult of Blessed Juan Diego, given at Mexico City on 6 May 1990, which recites the decree of 9 April 1990 on his holiness of life and immemorial cult.
  27. Acta Apostolicae Sedis, vol. 94 (2002) · 🗄 archived 2026-05-28 vatican.va (Acta Apostolicae Sedis) · official Cited at pp. 488–489 for the Congregation for the Causes of Saints decree of 20 December 2001 on the miracle proposed for Juan Diego's canonization, which names the subject and rehearses the earlier steps of the cause.
  28. John Paul II, Divinus perfectionis Magister, apostolic constitution, 25 January 1983 · 🗄 archived 2026-06-28 vatican.va · official Primary document — the constitution now governing causes of saints, published by the Holy See. Used here both for the reform itself and for its own historical recitals: Sixtus V's Immensa Aeterni Dei of 22 January 1588 and Paul VI's Sanctitas clarior and Sacra Rituum Congregatio of 1969.
  29. Francisco e Jacinta Marto — Dicastero delle Cause dei Santi · 🗄 archived 2026-03-11 Dicastero delle Cause dei Santi (causesanti.va) · official The dicastery's own account of the cause, giving the 1952 opening at Leiria, the 1979 closures, the 1989 heroic-virtues decrees, the 1999 miracle decree and the 2017 session. Official; note that it describes the two recognised cures without naming either person.
  30. Decreti pubblicati nel 2017 — promulgazione dei decreti · 🗄 archived 2026-05-21 Dicastero delle Cause dei Santi (causesanti.va) · official The dicastery's register of decrees promulgated in 2017, including the Marto miracle under 23 March. Cited for the wording of the decree item, which gives Jacinta's birth as 11 March 1910 and names no beneficiary.
  31. Decreti pubblicati nel 2023 — promulgazione dei decreti · 🗄 archived 2026-05-20 Dicastero delle Cause dei Santi (causesanti.va) · official The dicastery's register of decrees promulgated in 2023, including the heroic virtues of Lúcia dos Santos under 22 June, with her birth and death dates as the dicastery states them.
  32. Promulgazione di Decreti della Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi, 23 marzo 2017 · 🗄 archived 2026-01-13 Holy See Press Office (press.vatican.va) · official Primary document — the bulletin recording the audience at which Pope Francis authorised the decree on the miracle attributed to the Marto children. It names no beneficiary.
  33. Promulgazione di Decreti del Dicastero delle Cause dei Santi, 22 giugno 2023 · 🗄 archived 2025-10-12 Holy See Press Office (press.vatican.va) · official Primary document — the bulletin recording the audience at which Pope Francis authorised the decree on the heroic virtues of Lúcia dos Santos.
  34. História da Causa — Causa de Beatificação da Venerável Irmã Lúcia · 🗄 archived 2026-05-10 Carmelo de Santa Teresa, Coimbra · official The postulation's own year-by-year record of Sister Lúcia's cause, published by the Carmel where she lived and died — official custodian record, devotional perspective. Source for the 2008 derogation from the five-year interval, the opening and closing of the diocesan inquiry, and the 2022 Positio.