The Laity, Canonization & Criteria for Martyrdom

Interesting post here (hat tip to AmyWelborn) on, among other things the canonizations and beatifications of the laity under John Paul II. While the perception is that John Paul raised to the altar many lay saints, this post maintains that most of those saints were from the religious life, and that the most of the laity raised to the altar were martyrs.

Further (and this post was based on Benedict XVI's letter to the Congregation for the causes of Saints), Pope Benedict writes about the criteria for martyrdom. Interesting to us, as we carry Msgr. Knox's little treatise on the same subject.