Pope recognizes miracles, martyrdom, heroic virtues for sainthood causes

(May 11, 2012) Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday recognized 2 miracles, 4 martyrdom and 11 heroic virtues of a total of 53 men and women who are at various stages on their way to final sainthood. The two miracles cleared for beatification are attributed to the intercession of Italian Capuchin Brother Tommaso da Olera who died in 1631 and Italian nun of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians congregation (Salesian Sisters of St John Bosco), Sister Maria Troncatti who died in Ecuador in 1969. The four decrees on martyrdom include 36 priests, religious and an Italian layman, all of whom have been cleared for beatification. Most of them fell for their faith during the anti-clerical offensive of the 1936-’39 Spanish civil war. Fourteen of these martyrs are from the Czech Republic. Among those whose heroic virtues have been recognized are 4 Italians, 2 Spaniards, and a Slovenian, Brazilian, French, American, and German each. Six of them are men and 5 women, including an Italian lay woman. Earlier on March 14, this year, Pope Benedict had declared Cuban priest Fr. Felix Varela (1788-1853) ‘venerable’ in recognition of his heroic virtues. Fr. Varela died in the US in 1853.
Below is the complete list of candidates for whom Pope Benedict XVI ordered the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints to issue decrees:

MIRACLES
- Servant of God Tommaso da Olera (ne Tommaso Acerbis), Italian professed layman of the Order of St. Benedict (1563-1631).
- Servant of God Maria Troncatti, Italian professed sister of the Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady of Help (1883-1969).

MARTYRDOM
- Servants of Gods Frederic Bachstein and thirteen companions of the Order of Friars Minor, killed in hatred of the faith at Prague, Czech Republic in 1611.
- Servants of God Raimundo Castano Gonzalez and Jose Maria Gonzalez Solis, professed priests of the Order of Friars Preachers, killed in hatred of the faith at Bilbao, Spain in 1936.
- Servants of God Jaime Puig Mirosa and eighteen companions of the Congregation of the Sons of the Sacred Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and Sebastian Llorens Telarroja, layman, killed in hatred of the faith in Spain between 1936 and 1937.
- Servant of God Odoardo Focherini, Italian layman, killed in hatred of the faith at Hersbruck, Germany in 1944.

HEROIC VIRTUES
- Servant of God Raffaello Delle Nocche, Italian bishop of Tricarico and founder of the Sisters Disciples of the Eucharistic Jesus (1877-1960).
- Servant of God Frederic Irenej Baraga, Slovene American, first bishop of Marquette (1797-1868).
- Servant of God Pasquale Uva, Italian diocesan priest and founder of the Congregation of Sisters Handmaidens of Divine Providence (1883-1955).
- Servant of God Baltazar Manuel Pardal Vidal, Spanish diocesan priest and founder of the Secular Institute of the Daughters of Mary's Nativity (1886-1963).
- Servant of God Francesco Di Paola Victor, Brazilian diocesan priest (1827-1905).
- Servant of God Jacques Sevin, French professed priest of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and founder of the Catholic Scouts of France and of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem (1882-1951).
- Servant of God Maria Josefa of the Blessed Sacrament (nee Maria Josefa Recio Martin), founder of the Congregation of Hospitaller Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1846-1883).
- Servant of God Miriam Teresa Demjanovich, American professed sister of the Congregation of the Sisters of Chraity of St. Elizabeth (1901-1927).
- Servant of God Emilia Engel, German member of the Secular Institute of Sisters of Maria of Schonstatt, (1893-1955).
- Servant of God Rachele Ambrosini, Italian lay woman (1925-1941).
- Servant of God Maria Bolognesi, Italian lay woman (1924-1980).
On 14 March, the Supreme Pontiff authorised the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree regarding the heroic virtues of Servant of God Felix Francisco Jose de la Concepcion Varela Morales, Cuban diocesan priest (1788-1853)