An exact number eludes us! It should, of course, because there are more saints than just the canonized and the beatified. The number of saints in heaven is known only to God.
Beyond that, we have recourse to the Roman Martyrology, the official listing of not just martyrs but all the officially acknowledged saints of the Church. These include ones recognized before the canonization process developed and, since then, those subjected to that process. Since first issued in 1585 after the Council of Trent, the Roman Martyrology has been revised 131 times, recently in 1956 and 2001, and most recently in 2004 to commemorate the fortieth anniversary of Vatican II’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium). That document expressed the vision that led to adaptations in the Church’s honoring of saints in relation to its more primary adoration of God. The most recent edition of the Roman Martyrology lists approximately 6500 saints and “blesseds”, often canonized, have advanced through an investigatory process that grants them a degree of public honor but not the fuller veneration accorded canonized saints. This topic is discussed later. The Roman Martyrology also notes the dates for feast days. The exact number of saints cannot be enumerated, however, since many groups (like the “companions” associated with and celebrated on an individual’s feast day) cannot be adequately counted.
Much smaller than this grand list is the Church’s liturgical calendar, with provides for celebrations of just a few hundred saints. These are, for the most part, the better-known ones.
