Pope Benedict XVI Canonizes Four New Saints

(12 Oct 08 - RV) Pope Benedict XVI canonized four new saints on Sunday during Mass in St. Peter’s Square.

Scores of thousands of pilgrim faithful were on hand to join in the ceremony, which took place under a brilliant Roman October sun that warmed the air to unseasonably pleasant temperatures.

The new models of holiness for the whole Church are Gaetano Errico, a Neapolitan priest who founded a missionary order in the 19^th century;

The Swiss-born missionary Sister Maria Bernarda, who worked in Ecuador and Colombia;

A 19th century laywoman from Ecuador who helped the sick and the poor Narcisa de Jesus Martillo Moran;

And finally,

Sister Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception, who is the first native-born Indian woman to be elevated to the honour of the altars.

Pope Benedict XVI especially praised Sr. Alphonsa’s strength of character in words of greeting he spoke to the official delegation from India before the Sunday Angelus…

I cordially greet the English-speaking pilgrims, in particular the Official Delegation from India and all those who have come to celebrate the canonization of Saint Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception. Her heroic virtues of patience, fortitude and perseverance in the midst of deep suffering remind us that God always provides the strength we need to overcome every trial.


The Syro-Malabar Bishop of Palai, the diocese in which Sr. Alphonsa lived and worked until her death at age 35 in 1946, His Excellency Joseph Kallarangatt told us the canonization of Sr. Alphonsa has special significance at the present moment, in which Indian Christians are suffering a violent persecution…


At present, we are actually passing through a very difficult time in India, because of the so-called “Orissa Event” but I think that the canonization of Blessed Alphonsa is actually a good … to all Indians at the present time. Alphonsa’s life actually gives us the life of suffering, the life of so much pain that a person can take during a lifetime here on Earth.


In English-language remarks before the Sunday Angelus Prayer, Pope Benedict XVI condemned the violence and spoke words of encouragement for Christ’s faithful in India…

As the Christian faithful of India give thanks to God for their first native daughter to be presented for public veneration, I wish to assure them of my prayers during this difficult time. Commending to the providential care of Almighty God those who strive for peace and reconciliation, I urge the perpetrators of violence to renounce these acts and join with their brothers and sisters to work together in building a civilization of love. God bless you all!


In his Homily, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of all 4 new saints as exemplars of the universal call to holiness, showing that saintly living is possible in every sate of life within the Church.

Up PBXVI in Italian

May their examples give us encouragement, said Pope Benedict, and may their teachings give us direction and comfort.