when did the catholic church start honoring saints
Saint On 3 January 993, Pope John XV became the first pope to proclaim a person a "saint" from outside the diocese of Rome: on the petition of the German ruler, he had canonized Bishop Ulrich of Augsburg. Before that time, the popular "cults", or venerations, of saints had been local and spontaneous and were confirmed by the local bishop.[18] Pope John XVIII subsequently permitted a cult of five Polish martyrs.[18] Pope Benedict VIII later declared the Armenian hermit Symeon to be a saint, but it was not until the pontificate of Pope Innocent III that the Popes reserved to themselves the exclusive authority to canonize saints, so that local bishops needed the confirmation of the Pope.[18] Walter of Pontoise was the last person in Western Europe to be canonized by an authority other than the Pope: Hugh de Boves, the Archbishop of Rouen, canonized him in 1153.[19][20] Thenceforth a decree of Pope Alexander III in 1170 reserved the prerogative of canonization to the Pope, in so far as the Latin Church was concerned.[19]
Saint Joseph March 19, Saint Joseph's Day, has been the principal feast day of Saint Joseph in Western Christianity[62][63] since the 10th century, and is celebrated by Catholics, Anglicans, many Lutherans and other denominations.[64] In Eastern Orthodoxy, the feast day of Saint Joseph is celebrated on the First Sunday after the Nativity of Christ. In the Roman Catholic church, the Feast of St. Joseph (19 March) is a Solemnity (first class if using the Tridentine calendar), and is transferred to another date if impeded (i.e., 19 March falling on Sunday or in Holy Week).