 Before that time, the popular "cults", or venerations, of saints had been local and spontaneous and were confirmed by the local bishop.Pope John XVIII subsequently permitted a cult of five Polish martyrs.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.