Francis, the pontiff who has proclaimed the most saints: from a historic double pontifical canonization to 813 martyrs at the same time

At the end of the funeral Benedict XVI in St. Peter’s Square in January of this 2023 some people shouted in Italian “¡Santo Subito!” (Make it holy now!). It was the same phrase used at the pope’s funeral John Paul II in 2005, although by then a lot more people were clamoring for it. This is not a surprising request, given that three of the last five popes have been sanctifiedbut only about a third of all pontiffs have been canonized in the 2,000 year history of the Church.

francisco It is the pope who has proclaimed the most saints during his ten years at the head of the Vatican. add 911 canonized since taking the reins of San Pedro in 2013, an unusually large number that includes the 813 martyrs of Otranto as a group. The second most canonized was John Paul II, with 482.

Francis’ first canonization, May 12, 2013, was 813 people at a time. It is Martyrs of Otranto, known as Antonio Primaldo and companions because that person’s name is preserved but almost nothing is known of the other 812s.

Two of the most notorious canonizations of his pontificate are those of his predecessors John XXIII and John Paul II in front of more than half a million pilgrims on April 27, 2014, whom he described as brave men who withstood the tragedies of the 20th century.

It was a historic double papal canonization. The Vatican said more than 500,000 people thronged the basilica area while another 300,000 watched the event on large television screens across Rome.

Another of the best-known saints who was canonized by Francis is the Mother Teresa of Calcutta. She was beatified by Saint John Paul II on October 19, 2003 and canonized 13 years later by Pope Francis in Saint Peter’s Square on September 4, 2016 as part of the celebration of the Jubilee of Volunteers and Workers of Mercy.

One of the most recent was that of the nun Maria Francisca of Jesus (1844-1904) May 15, 2022, born in Italy but considered the first saint of Uruguayin a ceremony in St. Peter’s Square in which nine other blesseds were also proclaimed saints, such as the Dutchman Titus Brandsma and the Frenchman Charles de Foucauld.

María Francisca de Jesús, whose real name is Ana María Rubatto, was the founder in 1885 of the Congregation of the Capuchin Sisters, dedicated to the care of the sick and, above all, abandoned children and young people.

The third pope to be proclaimed a saint in just four years by Francis was Paul VIWho he was canonized with the Salvadoran Martyr Archbishop Oscar Romero. Paul VI was beatified and canonized by Pope Francis on October 19, 2014 and October 14, 2018, respectively.

The last to be canonized so far -on October 9, 2022- have been the Italian-Argentinian Artemides Zatti there Jean-Baptiste Scalabrini. Zatti was a nurse, a lay Salesian, born in Italy and emigrated to Argentina who “devoted his whole life to meeting the needs of others”.

“Artémides Zatti was a living example of gratitude. Cured of tuberculosis, he devoted his whole life to meeting the needs of others, caring for the sick with love and tenderness. They say they saw him carrying the corpse of one of his patients on his back. Filled with gratitude for what he had received, he wanted to show his thanksgiving by taking on the wounds of others,” Francis greeted during his homily.

Scalabrini, Italian, was bishop of Piacenza and founder of the Congregation of the Missionaries of San Carlo. When he canonized him, recalling his work in favor of migrants and refugees, the pope declared that the exclusion of migrants is “scandalous” who “dies before us” in the Mediterranean, which is now the “greatest cemetery of the world”. ”.

The sanctification process

The process that can lead to holiness, known as “cause”, usually can only start five years after a person dies. In some cases, the pope may waive this five-year waiting period if there is overwhelming evidence that the person under consideration lived a holy life.

This was precisely the case when Pope John Paul renounced the five-year mandate to canonize the Mother Teresa of Calcuttadied in 1997, and Pope Benedict did so for the cause of the holiness of the Pope John Pauldied in 2005. Both proceedings began within five years of his death.

In the early years of the Church, a saint could be declared by popular acclamation or by cardinals or by papal decree.

Today, the Vatican department that studies the causes of holiness is known as the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Its origins date back to 1588 but the department has undergone several changes over the years.

After the Congregation has accepted a person’s name for consideration of holiness, he is given the title of “servant of God”. If the first investigations show that the candidate for sainthood has lived what is called a life of “heroic virtues”, he is given the title of “Venerable”.

The historical and theological commissions of the Congregation study the lives of people, read their writings and question those who knew them. At this point, for the procedure to continue, a miracle.

Miracles are not performed by future saints but by God. The Church believes that because a possible saint is found, he can intercede before God to perform the miracle on anyone on earth who has prayed to him.

A miracle is usually a medically unexplained healing. A medical commission appointed by the Vatican is determining whether or not there was a scientific explanation for the cure.

Miracles are not necessary if a person was a martyrsomeone murdered in what the Church calls “hatred of the faith”.

If a miracle is determined for those who were not martyrs, the person can be “beatified” and given the title of “Blessed”. For example, John XXIII was beatified in 2000 and John Paul he was beatified in 2011.

And separate second miracle it must take place after the beatification in order to attain holiness.

Juan Pablo is awarded two wonders: the inexplicable healing of a French nun suffering from Parkinson’s disease and the healing of a Costa Rican suffering from a cerebral aneurysm. They had both prayed to him after his death.

John XXIII, on the other hand, is credited with only one miracle: the healing of an Italian nun suffering from a stomach ache which doctors had determined would be fatal.

In the case of Pope John XXIII, Pope Francis has waived the requirement for a second miracle, ruling that after more than half a century since his death, there was no doubt that John was a holy man.

Although canonization is meant to reflect a person’s virtue, some critics say that the Church has placed itself in an awkward position by making holiness almost a default option for modern popes. John Paul II was canonized nine years after his death in 2005.

Infographic by Marcelo Regalado

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