November 14th, 2009 Archbishop Hans-Josef Becker opened the Procedure of Beatification for Franz Stock. According to the Catholic Church , beatification means that a deceased person has lived an exemplary life of faith and has followed Jesus Christ in a very special way.  He/she may therefore be venerated by the church of a country, a bishopric or a specified community. The process of beatification is preceded by an ecclesiastic examination process opened by the Bishop of a diocese.