Hildegard of Bingen officially recognized as saint

Pope Benedict XVI made an exception on Thursday and inscribed in the catalogue of the saints of the Catholic Church a German Benedictine abbess and mystic of the 12th century, without a formal canonization ceremony. She is Saint Hildegard of Bingen, a writer, composer, philosopher, visionary and polymath. She was one of the first persons for whom the process of canonization was officially applied, but the process took so long that four attempts at canonization were not completed, and she remained at the level of her beatification. However, numerous popes have referred to Hildegard as a saint, including Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI. Hildegard achieved official sainthood 832 years after her death in 1179. Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday thus extended the liturgical cult of St. Hildegard to the universal Church, with her feast commemorated on 17 September, when she died.