Pope Francis elevates 14 figures of the Church to the rank of “saints” at the Vatican on Sunday, including 11 martyrs murdered in Syria in the 19th century and symbols of the persecution of Christians under the Ottoman Empire.
Canonization – the final step towards “sanctity” in the Catholic Church, following beatification – requires three conditions: having been dead for at least five years, having led an exemplary Christian life and having performed at least two miracles.
Among the new “saints” are the 11 “martyrs of Damascus”, assassinated in July 1860 in the Syrian capital then under Ottoman domination by a commando of Druze Muslims in the monastery of a Christian district.
According to Vatican News, the Vatican’s official media, “their martyrdom takes place in a context of persecution organized by Druze Muslims, from Lebanon to Syria, during which thousands of Christians are said to have lost their lives.”
These martyrs, including eight Franciscans and three lay people of the Maronite rite, the Massabki brothers, were beatified in 1926 by Pope Pius XI.
The others “canonized” are three founders of religious communities: the Italian missionary Giuseppe Allamano (1851-1926), the Italian nun Elena Guerra (1835-1914) and the Canadian Marie-Léonie Paradis (1840-1912), founder of a congregation committed to Catholic education.
In May, Pope Francis also announced the canonization of Carlos Acutis, an Internet-savvy and very pious Italian teenager whose death from devastating leukemia in 2006 had shocked the country.
The date of this ceremony has not yet been set, but it could take place during 2025, the year of the “Jubilee” in Rome where more than 30 million pilgrims are expected.
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