Josep Samsó i Elias to Be Beatified Sunday
(January 16, 2010) The Vatican officially announced today that a Spanish priest and martyr, Josep Samsó i Elias, will be beatified in the town where he was a parish priest on Sunday, 17th of January. Bishops of his nation have pointed to the priest who was born in Barcelona and grew up there, as a model of forgiveness that is particularly needed today in Spain. "The forgiveness with which he died asks us to be always -- and especially in the present circumstances of our country -- promoters of that spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation which has always characterized the best followers of Jesus Christ," the prelates of the region of Barcelona wrote in a statement marking the beatification. Mataro, Spain, the final parish where Father Samsó ministered, will be the site of the beatification. Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, will lead the celebrations. The bishops of the Barcelona province affirmed: Father Samsó's beatification "is above all a spiritual event and we are all called to live it as a thanksgiving to God, and as an invitation to imitate today his virtues, the apostolate, and the witness of faith -- taken to the point of martyrdom -- that this holy priest has left us."
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