From http://www.news.va/en/news/the-church-has-three-new-saints
October 23, 2011 - Pope Benedict XVI has marked the Catholic Church’s
 annual Mission Sunday on 23rd October, declaring two Italians and a 
Spaniard the Church’s newest saints. The Pope canonized the two men and a
 woman at a solemn Mass in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. The first 
declared saint is Italian Bishop Guido Maria Conforti, the founder of 
the Society of St. Francis Xavier for Foreign Missions, also known as 
the Xaverian missionaries. In 1895, seven years after becoming a priest,
 he founded a congregation of consecrated men dedicated to the 
evangelization of non-Christians. Named bishop of Ravenna in 1902, he 
was plagued by ill health and decided to resign. But five years later, 
he was once again named a bishop, this time as head of the Diocese of 
Parma. He died in 1931 and in 1996 Blessed John Paul II declared him 
Blessed. 
The other Italian saint is Fr. Luigi Guanella, who founded the 
Servants of Charity, the Daughters of St. Mary of Providence, and the 
Confraternity of St. Joseph, whose members pledge to pray for the sick 
and dying. Fr. Guanella died in 1915 and Pope Paul VI beatified him on 
Oct. 25, 1964. 
The third saint is Bonifacia Rodriguez Castro from Salamanca, Spain, 
who founded the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, and created 
the "Nazareth workshop" to help poor or unemployed women. She died in 
1905. 
After the Angelus prayer, Benedict XVI so said in English:
Dear brothers and sisters, I am pleased to greet all the 
English-speaking visitors and pilgrims present, especially those here 
for today’s canonizations. In this Sunday’s Gospel passage, Jesus urges 
us to love God above all things and to love our neighbour as ourselves. 
Let us measure our actions every day by his call to love, and live it 
with courage and joy. May almighty God bless all of you!
 
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.