May 22, 2022 - "Canonization of Ten Men and Women"

Last Sunday Pope Francis canonized ten men and women.  Investigations by the Congregation of the Causes of Saints of these ten individuals acknowledged inexplicable healings that occurred through their intercession.  It is important to remember, though, that the Catholic Church does not look first for the supernatural events that we identify as miracles in the life of a person reputed to be holy.  The first thing the Church looks for is evidence that the person was martyred for Christ or lived a heroically virtuous life.  These qualities were evident in the five individuals from Italy, three from France, one from India, and one from the Netherlands.  I will give a brief introduction to five of them today and will write about the other five next week.  Those canonized last week will bring to 909 the number of saints whom Pope Francis has officially recognized during his pontificate.  The 909 include the 813 Martyrs of Otranto who were killed in that southern Italian city in 1480 and declared saints in 2013.  Here are the first five of the ten who were canonized on May 15, 2022 in the order presented by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
 
Saint Devasahayam Pillai, an Indian layman and father who was born to an upper-caste Hindu family in 1712 and converted to Christianity in 1745.  His refusal to participate in Hindu ceremonies and his preaching about “the equality of all people,” denying the Hindu caste system, led to his arrest, torture, and his death in 1752.  He was beatified by Angelo Cardinal Amato on December 2, 2012.
 
Saint César de Bus, the founder of the Fathers of Christian Doctrine, a religious congregation dedicated to education, pastoral ministry, was born in France in 1544.  Up to the time that he had a conversion experience when he was in his early 30s he enjoyed partying and life in general.  After his conversion he began to dedicate himself to prayer and helping the poor.  Ordained to the priesthood in 1582, he was a pioneer in educating the laity in the faith.  He even used illustrations that he painted himself as well as songs and poetry composed by himself for this purpose.  He died in 1607.  Pope Saint Paul VI beatified him on April 27, 1975.
 
Saint Luigi Maria Palazzolo, was born in Italy in 1827 and ordained to the priesthood in 1850.  He founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Poor.  When Father Palazzolo was ordained, there was an abundance of clergy and like the majority of priests from wealthy families who stayed at home and generously dedicated themselves to good works.  Dom Luigi chose to devote himself to young people at an oratory in a poor neighborhood.  He opened a school that offered evening classes in reading and writing to men and boys before opening a separate oratory for girls and establishing the Sisters of the Poor to run it.  He was beatified on March 19, 1963 by Pope Saint John XXIII.

Saint Giustino Maria Russolillo, was an Italian, who, on the day he was ordained to the priesthood in 1913, vowed to establish a religious order whose purpose was to promote vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life.  His first attempt at this did not succeed because of opposition from his bishop.  Eventually he was able to establish the Society of Divine Vocations and the Vocationist Sisters.  He was beatified on May 7, 2011 by Angelo Cardinal Amato.
 
Saint Charles de Foucauld was born in France in 1858.  Although he stopped practicing his faith when he was a teenager, he was impressed at seeing how devoted Muslims were to pray when he was on a trip in Morocco.  This was the inspiration for him to return to the practice of the Catholic faith and eventually to join the Trappists.  After living in monasteries in France and in Syria, Charles believed that he was called to an even more austere life as a hermit.  After being ordained to the priesthood in 1901, he lived among the poor and finally settled in Tamanrasset, Algeria.  In 1916, Charles was killed by a band of marauders.  His writings inspired the foundation, after his death, of the Little Brothers of Jesus and the Little Sisters of Jesus. He was beatified on November 13, 2005 by José Cardinal Saraiva Martins.
 
I will continue the brief biographies of our newly canonized saints in my column for next week.
 
Until then,
Fr. John