canonize

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
canonize /ˈkanənʌɪz/ (or canonise)

▶verb

• 1 (in the Roman Catholic Church) officially declare (a dead person) to be a saint.

• 2 sanction by Church authority.

– derivatives
canonization noun.

– origin ME: from late L. canonizare ‘admit as authoritative’, from L. canon (see canon1).