Is there a sense in which Stephen was the first Catholic saint? I was told that St. Stephen was the first saint but read that Ulrich of Augsburg was the first to be officially canonized. Chronologically, however, shouldn't Joseph or John the Baptist be the first saint? The penitent thief is also a saint, St. Dismas, and he was the first saint to die after Jesus.


Does Stephen get honored as the "first saint," and if so, why?
Did the rules for becoming a saint change, and if so, how?
Saint Stephen was the first martyr, at whose stoning Saul/Paul was present.


He doesn't get the honour of "first saint".
The rules have almost certainly changed since antiquity, and are now fairly rigid (two miracles are required, at least).