Pope creates 5 new saints for the Church

(April 27, 2009) Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday raised to the glory of the altar five new saints, including Portugal's 14th century independence leader and an Italian priest who ministered to factory workers at the dawn of the industrial era. Speaking in a packed St. Peter's Square, Pope Benedict praised each of the five as a model for the faithful, saying their lives and works were as relevant today as when they were alive. Tapestries depicting the five new saints hung from Saint Peter's facade, behind the papal altar.
The Holy Father singled out Fr. Arcangelo Tadini, an Italian priest who lived at the turn of the last century and founded an order of nuns to tend to factory workers - something of a scandal at the time, since factories were considered immoral and dangerous places. Fr. Tadini also created an association to provide emergency loans to workers experiencing financial difficulties. “How prophetic was Don Tadini's charismatic intuition, and how current his example is today, in this time of grave economic crisis!” Pope Benedict marvelled in his homily.
The only non-Italian among the five canonized on Sunday was Nuno Alvares Pereira, a 14^th-century nobleman who helped secure Portugal's independence from the Spanish kingdom of Castile, leading Portuguese forces in the critical Battle of Aljubarrota in 1385. After leaving the military, he entered religious life as a Carmelite and changed his name to Nuno de Santa Maria, dedicating himself to the poor. Regarded as a national hero today in Portugal, he is also revered as a humble man of great spirituality. Pope Benedict said that the 14th-century nobleman had shown that "in any situation, even of a military and warlike nature, it is possible to act and live out the values and principles of Christian life".
Also canonized on Sunday was Fr. Bernardo Tolomei, a nearly blind monk who founded the Benedictine Congregation of Santa Maria di Monte Oliveto in the 1340s. He died in 1348 along with 82 of his monks after leaving the safety of his monastery to tend to plague victims in Siena. The Pope praised his dedication, saying he died “as an authentic martyr of charity.”
The others canonized were Gertrude Comensoli and Caterina Volpicelli, 19th century Italian nuns who founded religious orders. The Pope explained that Sr. Comensoli founded the Institute of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament "so as to translate the charity 'contemplated' in the Eucharistic Christ into 'lived' charity, dedicating herself to her neighbour." The Holy Father presented Sr. Volpicelli as one "who made an effort 'to be of Christ, so as to bring Christ' to those she encountered in Naples at the end of the 19th century, during a time of spiritual and social crisis."
Upon concluding the celebration, and before praying the “Regina Coeli”, the Pope greeted in various language the pilgrims who came to attend the canonization of the five new saints. Listen to him in English: