VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Francis will create 14 new saints on Sunday (Oct. 20) who have in common a calling to spread the gospel and a special devotion to the Holy Spirit, the key themes of a major monthlong summit of bishops and Catholic leaders at the Vatican.
The canonizations are an opportunity for the pope to underline important aspects of his synod on the theme of synodality, aimed at answering the question: “How to become a synodal church in mission?” Bishops, priests, nuns and lay people gathered at the Vatican this month to address this question.
The Rev. Giuseppe Allamano (1851-1926) was on the path to sainthood early on. His uncle was St. Joseph Cafasso, and his spiritual director was St. John Bosco, who founded the Order of the Salesians focusing on helping young people steer clear of delinquency. Allamano longed to become a missionary priest, but his poor health didn’t allow him to travel, forcing him to focus his attention on the Italian city of Turin.
He founded the Consolata Missionaries and the Consolata Missionary Sisters urging its members to become exemplary figures capable of attracting others. Members of his order ended up spreading the faith and building communities all over the world. More than a dozen are now bishops. Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, one of the youngest cardinals and the leader of the tiny Catholic community in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, is a member of the Consolata missionaries. Pope Francis visited Mongolia in September 2023 and invited Marengo to take part in this year’s synod at the Vatican.
To become a saint in the Catholic Church, the Vatican’s Dicastery for Saints’ Causes must determine that a miracle was performed when a person prayed to the would-be saint to intercede on their behalf with God. In the case of Allamano, the miracle attributed to him occurred in a remote area of the Amazon jungle. In 1996, an indigenous man named Sorino Yanomami was attacked by a jaguar that ripped out a part of his skull. When he was finally led to the nearest hospital, doctors doubted that he would ever fully recover. A group of six Consolata missionary nuns prayed at his bedside to a picture of Allamano. In a few months, Yanomami was completely healed and eventually returned to his life in the forest.
Mother Elena Guerra (1835–1914) will also be canonized Sunday and, like Allamano, was in poor health and founded a missionary order. In 1882, her order of the Oblates of the Holy Spirit received the seal of approval from Pope Leo XIII. Guerra was known as “the Apostle of the Holy Spirit,” and in her writings she underlined the importance of spreading the gospel and being open to the Holy Spirit. Members of her order are now present on almost every continent.
Among the new saints, there will also be Sister Marie-Léonie Paradis (1840–1912), recognized for her willingness to be of service to others. In 1880, Paradis founded the Little Sisters of the Holy Family after asking permission from her bishop for almost 20 years. “The foundress could thus fulfill the great aspiration to place her life at the service of priests,” according to the Vatican department for saints.
The martyrs of Damascus will also be canonized. In 1860, in Damascus, Syria, eight Franciscan friars and three laymen belonging to the Catholic Maronite ethnic group were brutally killed by a group of armed Muslims and Shia Druze for refusing to convert to Islam. Francis Massabki, one of the Maronite martyrs, reportedly told the armed men, “We are Christians, and in the faith of Christ, we will die.”
These martyrs are dear to the Custody of the Holy Land, which oversees the Catholic community in Jerusalem, which celebrates them on July 10 each year alongside the Maronite faithful. The canonization is in line with Pope Francis’ “ecumenism of martyrs,” aimed at commemorating holy individuals of different Christian denominations.
The 11 martyrs of Damascus also highlight the difficult conditions of Christians living in Syria, which Pope Francis often remembers in his weekly public audiences and prayers for peace in the war-torn country.
The new batch of saints point to an emphasis of Francis’ pontificate, especially the missionary spirit to evangelize the faith to the peripheries. Also, as Catholicism wanes in the West due to secularization and changing demographics, the canonizations underline the impact and witness that Catholic minorities have had in recent history.
