The new saints are: Pope Paul VI, Archbishop Oscar Romero, Francesco Spinelli, Vincenzo Romano, Maria Caterina Kasper, Nazaria Ignazia of Saint Teresa of Jesus and Nunzio Sulprizio.

St Paul VI was like St Paul, who "spent his life for Christ's Gospel," Francis said.

He crossed new boundaries and became a "witness in proclamation and in dialogue, a prophet of a Church turned outwards, looking to those far away and taking care of the poor.

"Even in the midst of tiredness and misunderstanding, Paul bore witness in a passionate way to the beauty and the joy of following Christ totally.

"Today he still urges us, together with the Council whose wise helmsman he was, to live our common vocation: the universal call to holiness. Not to half measures, but to holiness," Francis said.

Paul was pope from 1963-1978. He presided over the church reforms of the 1960s and was the pope of Francis' formative years as a young priest in Argentina.

Among the crowd at the canonisation mass in Rome were 5,000 Salvadoran pilgrims who traveled to witness Oscar Romero's canonisation.

St Oscar Romero is San Salvador's first saint.

Besides those present at the mass, "tens of thousands" of others watched it on giant TV screens outside the San Salvador cathedral where St Oscar Romero's remains are entombed.

St Oscar Romero was murdered while celebrating Mass in 1980. Francis declared him a martyr on 3 February 2015 and he was beatified on 23 May that same year.

Francis said he spoke out against poverty, social injustice, assassinations and torture and fearlessly denounced denounced the military oppression at the start of El Salvador's 1980-1992 civil war.

He also helped establish the Latin American church's "preferential option for the poor" that Francis has adopted.

Francis showed his personal connection with Paul and Romero at the canonisation Mass by wearing the blood-stained rope belt Romero was wearing when he was killed and using Paul's staff, chalice and pallium vestment.

Francis said like Paul and Romero, Francesco Spinelli, Vincenzo Romano, Maria Caterina Kasper, Nazaria Ignazia of Saint Teresa of Jesus and "our young boy" from Naples, Nunzio Sulprizio, all gave their lives according to the Gospel ... with heart[s] drawn to Jesus, and his brothers and sisters.

"All these saints, in different contexts, put today's word into practice in their lives, without lukewarmness, without calculation, with the passion to risk everything and to leave it all."

Source

• NZ Herald
• Zenit
• Irish Times
• Image: Catholic Herald

Romero was shot dead while celebrating Mass 38 years ago.

Silva - who met Romero in El Salvador, says he will remember "a spiritual father" who offered "many key messages" throughout their five-year friendship.

Describing Romero as a humble man who preferred to be called Monsignor because he wanted to be known as "a brother in Christ," Silva says Romero told him:

‘The will of God made me a bishop to serve you … (and) priests and bishops are your servants, your brothers in Christ.

"He would say, ‘You, the lay people, are important, you are the Church, the baptised'."

During his lifetime Romero was beloved among the working class and poor for defending them against repression by the army.

Silva says Romero's humility was seen in his frequent visits to poorer regions of El Salvador.

"He went everywhere, especially to shanty towns. Romero's mission was to preach the Gospel and that Gospel compelled him to fight injustice.

"(And) he often repeated, ‘You are children of God, you are the Church, protect your Church and fight the good fight for your Church'."

The process towards Archbishop Romero's beatification on May 23, 2015, was slowed for some decades but reopened by Pope Benedict XVI.

His canonisation was approved after Pope Francis accepted a miracle attributed to his intercession, when he miraculously cured a Salvadoran woman, Cecilia Maribel Flores, from a life-threatening condition.

Source

• Catholic Leader
• Crux Now
• Image: pilgrimsprogresspddm.blogspot.com

He was murdered by Islamic terrorists while celebrating Mass on 26 July 2016. Priests, laity and parishioners say they have been changed by his death.

Hamel's parishioners speak of how it strengthened bonds between them: "In killing Father Hamel, the terrorists attacked us as well," they say.

It has led to renewed fervour and commitment among them.

Parishioners say the cause of their cohesion is Father Hamel himself. Already an intercessor, he could become their patron saint. His beatification process has begun.

Archbishop Dominique Lebrun paid homage to the community during the second anniversary Mass, referring to their closeness and cohesion as a "miracle."

Mass attendance has risen, there are 14 child altar servers (compared to two, previously) and people whom Hamel baptized want their marriages or funerals to be celebrated in Hamel's church, even if they don't live in the parish.

In addition, pilgrims visit the church where Hamel was killed. About twenty groups are expected to visit between now and October.

French priests reflecting on Hamel's example are also noticing how he is changing their lives.

They say changes include a recognising of the need for authenticity and seriousness in ministry. They also notice how older French priests like Hamel embed themselves in local communities, which has led to younger priests developing better understanding and respect for their older confrères.

Younger priests note how older priests are like Hamel in persevering in the small matters of daily life and show constancy in faith even during times of great change.

Hamel's death has raised questions for all of us, one priest says. They wonder: "Are we Christian? Are we ready to give our lives?"

Many priests have been violently killed or threatened in other countries, he said.

Some priests say they remember Hamel for his ongoing dialogue with Muslims. Alongside the Regional Council for the Muslim Faith, he belonged to an interfaith committee created after terrorist attacks in January 2015.

He also insisted on interreligious dialogue.

"Since the assassination, Muslim-Christian dialogue has become stronger at Béziers, particularly with one of the five mosques in the city," said Father Bortheirie, who is from a parish in the city centre.

"Without being naive, I pray that relations between Muslims and Catholics continue despite everything."

Source

• La Croix
• La Croix
• Independent Catholic News
• Image: Aleteria

Sgorbati was an Italian missionary nun shot to death in Somalia in 2006 along with her Muslim driver and bodyguard, Mohamed Osman Mahamud after Pope benedict XVI's Regensburg lecture. Read more

"Brigitte. Musikalisches Leuchten" (Brigitte. Musical Beacon) premiered in Brigitte's home town of Loitz in northeastern Germany last weekend. Since then, performances have been held in Greifswald and Berlin. Read more

The two men who killed him claimed allegiance to ISIS.

"We certainly come with many emotions," Hamel said on Tuesday, the day before her brother's anniversary mass at his parish church of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, where he was murdered.

"But it is necessary for the memory of my brother and to explain why he left this world in such a tragic way.

"We must not forget that this priest died and that a few minutes before he prayed for peace for the whole world, for peace among peoples."

Hamel says it's "still a bit complicated" for his family to think of Fr Hamel's beatification."

She says her brother was "simple, peaceful and shy," never looked for compliments or rewards "... if not with a ‘thank you' or a smile, and knowing that he had done good to one person or another was enough for him to feel good."

Hamel says her brother's death has left them "with the vivid pain that never leaves us," and a huge responsibility.

"After he passed away, the next day, we saw the strong message that went to all the faithful in the world and that this message will reverberate to believers and non-believers of all nationalities and cultures.

"We can say that Jacques, after this tragedy, became a brother to all," she added.

Hamel has made it her life's work to bring forth the message exemplified by her brother. She often meets with Muslim communities in France in search of "an encounter, and in order to share a better understanding."

Source

• Crux
• Crux
• Catholic Herald
• Image: NewsDaily247

Thirty-thousand people gathered in Vilnius, Lithuania's capital, to attend the official beautification ceremony, which was broadcast live on Facebook.

Pope Francis recognised Blessed Teofilius as a martyr in December last year.

At the beatification Mass, Vatican Representative Cardinal Angelo Amato spoke of Blessed Teofilius's "heroism" under "ruthless dictatorships which strove to annihilate the Church."

At the time Lithuania was ruled by Moscow-based atheists.

Blessed Teofilius's public dedication to Christ and the Church led to his suffering for many years in prisons and labour camps.

The Soviet regime imprisoned him for a decade in 1946 after he refused to condemn armed Lithuanian resistance against Moscow's rule and criticised its repression of Catholics.

He was eventually released and managed to keep secretly in contact with the Vatican from behind the Iron Curtain despite being spied on for years.

"Torture did not bend his will. He did not give in to hatred,"Amato said.

Another speaker at the beatification Mass was Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskait.

He said Blessed Teofilius remained steadfast in his commitment to the truth during his many years behind bars.

In 1962, soon after being made an archbishop by Pope John XXIII, Blessed Teofilius died. He was 89.

Many suspect he was executed by lethal injection on orders of the Soviet KGB secret police although there has never been any proof of this.

Source

• Vatican Radio
• Pulse
• Image: YouTube

The area was still troubled by the political instability that followed the Revolution. That, plus the need to help on the farm, meant his primary schooling was rather fragmented.

In his early teens the parish priest helped him with special lessons in the presbytery, so that in 1819, aged 16, he was ready to begin his four years of secondary education at the minor seminary at Meximieux.

He progressed to the major seminary at Brou in 1824, to be ordained on 15 July 1827, at the age of 24, as a priest for the Belley diocese. For his first year of priesthood he was assistant in a medium sized town, already thinking seriously about applying for an apostolate in the foreign missions.

Then followed three years as parish priest in a small country town where the Church was still in disarray a generation after the Revolution. With quiet zeal, tact and compassion he transformed it. Underlying his approach was his personal motto, ‘To love Mary and bring others to love her.'

In 1831, at 28, with his bishop's agreement, he joined the small group of diocesan priests in the dioceses of Belley and Lyons, who had hopes of starting a Society of Mary.

Its most prominent members were Jean-Claude Colin and Marcellin Champagnat, who was responsible for establishing a branch of teaching brothers.

There were also sisters, founded by Jeanne-Marie Chavoin, and groups of laypeople. Among the Marists' declared aims was to undertake foreign missions.

At this stage, however, the priests were occupied in giving parish missions and in running the minor seminary in Belley, which also doubled as a college for boys who had no thought of a priestly vocation. Peter joined the staff of this college, where, in 1832, he became its spiritual director. Continue reading

Sources

• Article by Fr Justin Taylor sm in the Marist Messenger
• Image: Notre Dame Marist Academy

He was murdered in 1981 in a Guatemalan village where he ministered to the poor. Read more

After falling ill (and perhaps spreading her illness to the children in her care) Ann Glover was convicted of being an "idolatrous Roman Catholick" and a witch.

She was hanged on Boston Common on November 16, 1688. Today, just a 15 minute walk away, the parish of Our Lady of Victories holds a plaque commemorating her martyrdom.

Her cause for martyrdom has not yet been put to the Vatican.

Glover's trial also set the tone for the infamous Salem Witch Trials in 1692, during which 19 men and women were hanged for witchcraft.

Reverend Cotton Mather and his anti-Catholic prejudices played a major role in these trials. He also played a major role in denouncing Ann. Read more

The pontiff also said that killing in the name of God is "satanic."

On Wednesday morning, Francis celebrated Mass in honor of the murdered priest, joined by 80 pilgrims from Hamel's French diocese of Rouen. The celebration was live-streamed through the Vatican's YouTube channel.

In his homily, the pontiff called the priest "blessed," the step prior to sainthood, asking the faithful to pray for his intercession, so that he "gives us the courage to say the truth: to kill in the name of God is satanic."

"This man accepted his martyrdom next to the martyrdom of Christ, on the altar," Francis said during his improvised homily, which was interpreted into French as he was delivering it. "He was beheaded on the Cross, as he was celebrating the sacrifice of Christ's cross [the Mass]."

Hamel had retired nearly a decade ago, but continued to serve as an assistant priest at the church in St Etienne-du-Rouvray, a suburb of Rouen. When the two assailants burst into the church on July 26, he was leading the service in the absence of the regular priest.

"This makes me think so much… amidst the difficult moment he was living, amidst the tragedy that he saw coming, this humble, good man, who worked for fraternity, didn't lose the lucidity to accuse and clearly named his assassin. He said clearly: ‘Satan, go!'"

Hamel, Francis said, gave his life "in the same sacrifice of Jesus on the altar. And from there, he named the author of the persecution."

"He gave his life for us so as not to deny Jesus," Francis said. "He is a martyr and martyrs are beatified."

Source

• Crux
• Image: www.journal.re
  

He was proclaimed blessed in an apostolic letter read on behalf of Pope Francis by Italian Cardinal Angelo Amato during a Mass in South Africa's northern Limpopo province on Sunday.

The ceremony in Tshitanini village was attended by some 30,000 people.

Blessed Daswa was beaten to death 25 years ago by fellow villagers after he refused to join in witchcraft-related activities ordered by local elders as a response to damaging storms.

A convert to Catholicism, he reportedly refused to pay a sorcerer who promised to end the storms.

After being stoned by his assailants, Blessed Daswa ran to a hut before being found by the mob and beaten to death with a stick.

His murderers then poured boiling water in his ears and nostrils - all of which happened on February 2, 1990, the day the apartheid regime announced it would release Nelson Mandela.

"While his executioners were killing him, Benedict was on his knees praying. He prayed until the last minute of his life," said Fr Andre Bohas, one of the initiators of the beatification process.

He "is a model for all the people in Africa".

Blessed Daswa's eight children - including one born a few months after his death - sat in the front at the ceremony, alongside their 91-year-old grandmother Ipa.

"Proud is an understatement to describe what I feel," said Mutshiro Michael, 33, one of Daswa's sons, adding he had forgiven his father's murderers.

Virtually unknown when he died, Blessed Daswa's fame grew throughout South Africa's Catholic community, with villagers starting to commemorate the anniversary of his death.

His feast day will be celebrated on February 1.

Around eight per cent of South Africa's population is Catholic.

During his Sunday Angelus address in Rome, Pope Francis paid tribute to Blessed Daswa.

"In his life he always showed great consistency, courageously defending Christian views and rejecting worldly and pagan customs," Pope Francis said.

Sources

• AFP
• Vatican Radio
• Reuters
• Image: La Voz Catholica

"Romero, friend, the people are with you," the congregation chanted at a square in San Salvador.

Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, presided over the beatification Mass.

In his homily the cardinal said that "the figure of Romero is still alive and giving comfort to the marginalised of the earth."

"His option for the poor was not ideological, but evangelical. His charity extended to the persecutors."

Blessed Romero was assassinated in 1980 while celebrating Mass a day after ordering soldiers and police to stop killing innocent civilians.

While his killers were never found, many blame the assassination on right-wing death squads.

The archbishop had been a fierce critic of the US-backed military regime that seized power in 1979.

The blood-stained short he wore when he was killed is now a relic and it was given some prominence at the beatification Mass.

Eight deacons carried the shirt, displayed in a glass case, to the altar.

One of the offertory gifts at the beatification Mass was a book "From Madness to Hope" that detailed some of the human rights atrocities committed in El Salvador during the conflict from 1979 to 1992 between leftist guerrillas and a right-wing dictatorship.

In a message, Pope Francis stated that, in a time of difficulty in El Salvador, Archbishop Romero knew "how to guide, defend and protect his flock, remaining faithful to the Gospel and in communion with the whole Church".

"His ministry was distinguished by a particular attention to the poor and marginalised," the Pope noted.

Archbishop Romero's feast day will be March 24, the "day he was born into heaven", the Pontiff wrote.

In February, Francis signed the decree recognising Archbishop Romero as a martyr, a person killed "in hatred of the faith".

A hero to the liberation theology movement, Blessed Romero's beatification was delayed for decades over political concerns.

But the way forward for his cause was unblocked by Pope Benedict XVI.

Sources

• Catholic Herald
• Catholic News Agency
• CNN
• Image: Business Insider

The ceremony will be in Plaza Divino Salvador del Mundo, said Italian Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the chief promoter of the archbishop's sainthood cause.

Archbishop Paglia called the beatification a gift for the world, but particularly for the people of El Salvador.​

In February, Pope Francis paved the way for Archbishop Romero's beatification when he formally decreed that the prelate was assassinated as a martyr for the Catholic faith.

Shot dead while celebrating Mass in 1980, the archbishop has long been considered a saint by many in Latin America, but the official Vatican process had lingered for years.

Continue reading

Msgr Jesus Delgado said Archbishop Romero was visited by proponents of liberation theology and they left him their books.

Msgr Delgado said he doubted the archbishop ever read them.

Liberation theology "was in opposition to what he preached, which is what the Church asks of all: conversion to Jesus, a personal encounter with Jesus", the monsignor said.

Romero's theology was focused on the presence of God among the poor, Msgr Delgado added.

Asked why the Vatican received negative reports for years about Archbishop Romero, Msgr Delgado said: "The Popes did not have a good understanding of the situation in Latin America. They were very prudent in response."

But Pope Francis, who does understand the situation, has made the right call in declaring Romero a martyr and unblocking his cause, Msgr Delgado said.

Continue reading

The postulator of the archbishop's cause, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, said that Romero's killers wanted "to strike the Church that flowed from the Second Vatican Council".

On February 3, Pope Francis formally recognised that the slain Salvadoran archbishop was killed "in hatred of the faith" and not for purely political reasons.

A right-wing death squad shot Archbishop Romero dead as he celebrated Mass on March 24, 1980.

This was one day after the archbishop gave a sermon calling on soldiers to stop enforcing the El Salvador government's policies of oppression and violations of human rights.

Sources believe it is likely Archbishop Romero will be beatified within five months in El Salvador and will be canonised by 2017.

Archbishop Paglia said the two decades it took to obtain the decree of martyrdom were the result of "misunderstandings and preconceptions".

During Archbishop Romero's time as archbishop of San Salvador - from 1977 to 1980 - "kilos of letters against him arrived in Rome".

"The accusations were simple: He's political; he's a follower of liberation theology."

To the accusations that he supported liberation theology, Archbishop Paglia said, Archbishop Romero responded, "Yes, certainly".

"But there are two theologies of liberation: one sees liberation only as material liberation; the other is that of Paul VI.

"I'm with Paul VI", Archbishop Paglia indicated how Archbishop Romero would have responded, in seeking the material and spiritual liberation of all people.

All the complaints, Archbishop Paglia said, slowed the sainthood process and "strengthened his enemies".

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith examined all Romero's homilies and writings and cleared them.

But the congregation, led by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) at the time, told the Congregation for Saints Causes that the process should be put on hold.

There were concerns about the use of Romero's words for political ends and about being seen to endorse political forms of liberation theology.

But Pope Benedict XVI unblocked the process for Archbishop Romero's cause in 2012, having earlier expressed support for his beatification in 2007.

Sources

• The Tablet
• National Catholic Reporter
• Vatican Insider
• Associated Press
• Image: Fox News

The bishops reportedly asked him to come to El Salvador to preside personally over the archbishop's hoped-for beatification.

Archbishop Jose Escobar Alas said he and three other Salvadoran bishops met the Pope at the Vatican this month to discuss Archbishop Romero's cause.

"We ask the Lord for the speedy beatification of Archbishop Romero and that the Pope come here" to celebrate the ceremony, Archbishop Escobar said.

The Pope told the Salvadoran bishops that he was pleased the process was moving ahead, but he gave no indication of when it would be completed, the archbishop told reporters.

Archbishop Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, was shot dead on March 24, 1980, while celebrating Mass in a hospital.

This was one day after he delivered a homily calling on Salvadoran soldiers to stop enforcing government repression and human rights violations.

Pope John Paul II gave him the title "servant of God" in 1997, and the cause for his canonisation began.

But it stalled under the papacy of Benedict XVI as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith studied Archbishop Romero's writings.

This was amid wider debate over whether he had been killed for his faith or for political reasons.

Pope Francis revived the cause soon after he was elected last year.

In 2013, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family and official promoter of Archbishop Romero's cause, said the process had been "unblocked", but gave no further details.

Before Archbishop Romero can be beatified, Pope Francis must officially recognise him as a martyr or officially recognise a miracle received through his intercession.

Recent reports in several languages had suggested that an announcement about Archbishop Romero's beatification was near.

Sources

• Catholic Herald
• National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Good Shepherd BH

The study ranks the 50 countries that are home to the worst treatment of Christians and is issued by Open Doors USA.

The top 10 countries "where Christians faced the most pressure and violence," according to the WWL, were North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Maldives, Pakistan, Iran, and Yemen.

While North Korea has topped the list for 12 straight years, this is the first time that a sub-Saharan African country took the No. 2 slot.

"Overall, the 2014 list determines that pressure on Christians increased in 34 countries, decreased in five, and remained about the same in the remaining 14," World Watch notes.

Open Doors USA said that it had gathered evidence of 2,123 Christians who were killed for their faith in 2013, up from 1,201 such martyrdoms in 2012.

"This is a very minimal count based on what has been reported in the media and we can confirm," said Frans Veerman, head of research for the organisation.

Veerman explained that the actual numbers could be much higher.

The Open Doors USA report estimated that around 100 million Christians were persecuted for their faith in 2013.

Sources

• World Watch Monitor
• CNA
• Christianity Today
• Image: PoliNation

Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia gave no further details of why the cause had been blocked in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Archbishop Romero was shot in 1980 as he celebrated Mass. If he is judged a martyr, he could be beatified without having a miracle attributed to his intercession.

Continue reading

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints has been examining Romero's cause since 1996.

Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chavez, Auxiliary Bishop of San Salvador, has said he knows Pope Francis personally "and I know he is absolutely convinced that Romero is a saint and a martyr. Everything points to his beatification being on the cards, although we follow God's time frame which is not the same as ours."

Continue reading