 Although the history of her formal canonization is complicated, branches of the Roman Catholic Church have recognized her as a saint for centuries.On 10 May 2012, Pope Benedict XVI extended the liturgical cult of St. Hildegard to the entire Catholic Church in a process known as "equivalent canonization".On 7 October 2012, he named her a Doctor of the Church, in recognition of "her holiness of life and the originality of her teaching."