"The sainthood is an institution in the Church that has endured as long as the Church itself, and the saints are a powerful force in the Church."

I beg to differ.  People like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Mariam, Rebeccah, Rachael, David-the Prophets and many, many others--were not declared 'saints' by the Catholic Church.  They ARE saints, were declared to be so by the Jewish people.  The Catholic church recognizes them as saints---but there was no canonization process to do so.

The early saints in the Church did not have to go through this long, drawn-out process.  They became SAINTS by popular acclaim.  And there was no canonization process for them, either.

This current process leaves out most of the laity to be even considered as canonized saints.  Families do not have the money to push this forward and they can't dedicate members of their families to become Postulators [those who promote the cause of sanctity] from one generation to the next.