Pope Leo XIV is set to create seven new saints Sunday, including the first from Papua New Guinea, an archbishop killed in the Armenian genocide and a Venezuelan “doctor of the poor”.
Also set to be canonised in the solemn ceremony in St Peter’s Square on World Mission Day are three nuns who dedicated their lives to the poor and sick, and former Satanic priest Bartolo Longo.
Born in 1841, the Italian lawyer subsequently rejoined the Catholic faith and went on to found the Pontifical Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary of Pompeii.
The canonisation will be the second for the US pope since he was made leader of the Catholic Church on May 8.
Last month, he proclaimed as saints Italians Carlo Acutis — a teenager dubbed “God’s Influencer” who spread the faith online before his death at age 15 in 2006 — and Pier Giorgio Frassati, considered a model of charity who died in 1925, aged 24.
Canonisation is the final step towards sainthood in the Catholic Church, following beatification.
Three conditions are required — most crucially that the individual has performed at least two miracles. He or she must be deceased for at least five years and have led an exemplary Christian life.
Those to be proclaimed saints Sunday are Peter To Rot, a lay catechist from Papua New Guinea killed during the Japanese occupation during World War II, Armenian bishop Ignazio Choukrallah Maloyan killed by Turkish forces in 1915, and Venezuela’s Jose Gregorio Hernandez Cisneros, a layman who died in 1919 whom the late Pope Francis called a “doctor close to the weakest”.
Also from Venezuela is Maria Carmen Elena Rendiles Martinez, a nun born without a left arm who overcame her disability to found the Congregation of the Servants of Jesus before her death in 1977. She becomes the South American country’s first female saint.
The Italian nuns to be canonised are Vincenza Maria Poloni, the 19th century founder of Verona’s Institute of the Sisters of Mercy, which cares primarily for the sick in hospitals, and Maria Troncatti of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians.
In the 1920s, Troncatti arrived in Ecuador to devote her life to helping Ecuador’s Indigenous population.
Pope Francis has received backlash for his decision to remove Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, who has been a vocal critic of Francis’ efforts to make the church more welcoming for the LBGTQ+ community.
Strickland has publicly scrutinized Francis for the Pope’s attempt to change the Church’s position on social issues, such as transgender rights and same-sex marriage.
In August, Strickland wrote an open letter to the “sons and daughters in Christ,” where he reiterated the “basic truths” of the Church, including how God sees marriage as “between one man and one woman” and how a “disordered attempt to reject” someone’s “undeniable biological and God-given identity” should not be supported.
Most recently, Strickland called Francis’ three-week long closed-door meeting on controversial issues facing the Church a “travesty.” Francis hosted the meeting in October, discussing issues like women in governance roles and welcoming LGBTQ+ members into the Church.
Pope Francis greets pilgrims and visitors during the recitation of the Sunday Angelus prayer at St. Peter’s Square on November 05, 2023 in Vatican City, Vatican. Francis has received backlash for his decision to remove Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, who has been a vocal critic of Francis’ efforts to make the church more welcoming for the LBGTQ+ community. Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images
Strickland’s governance of the diocese was investigated earlier this year by the Vatican. Following their investigation, a recommendation was given to Francis that “the continuation in office of Bishop Strickland was not feasible,” said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the head of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in Texas, on Saturday. The investigation’s findings were never released.
The Vatican asked Strickland to resign on Thursday. When Strickland refused to resign, Francis removed him from office on Saturday, according to DiNardo’s statement. Strickland had insisted that he would not voluntarily leave his position in the church, saying in media interviews that he was given a mandate to serve by the late Pope Benedict XVI and couldn’t abdicate that responsibility.
Newsweek reached out to Strickland and the Vatican via email for comment.
Those in the Catholic community were outraged by Francis’ decision to remove Strickland, with some calling the pope a “dictator.”
Lepanto Institute, an organization that describes itself as committed to the “defense of the Catholic Church,” wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday, “Like a Soviet-era dictator, and in a raw exercise of power without provision of law, Pope Francis has removed Bp. Joseph Strickland as bishop of Tyler, TX.”
Frank Pavone, a laicized Catholic priest and anti-abortion activist announced the news of Strickland’s firing. “No reason given. But reasons should be given, out of respect for everyone impacted by this decision. We see a tyrannical weaponization of both civil and ecclesiastical government.”
Arcivescovo Carlo Maria Viganò, a bishop who is a Vatican whistleblower and critic of Francis called Strickland’s removal “a cowardly form of authoritarianism” in a post on X. Meanwhile, Catholic writer Peter Kwasniewkski posted “Tyranny pure and simple,” in response to Strickland being fired.
Retired U.S. General Michael Flynn, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, stood behind Strickland and wrote on X: “I want to make sure we don’t lose sight of who is among the top of the pyramid of the globalist elite trying to take over the world by first destroying it then ‘building it back better’ in their image. One of those at the very top is @Pontifex(Pope Francis).”
Meanwhile, Dr. Taylor Marshall, a Catholic YouTube commentator, posted, “This is a very sad moment for the Catholic Church in Texas and throughout the world. Pray for Bishop Strickland and pray for those who removed him.”
The Vatican confirmed that Strickland was “relieved” of the pastoral governance of Tyler and said that the bishop of Austin, Joe S. Vásquez, was appointed as the temporary administrator.
Rejoice always that…no matter what the day brings Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, yesterday, today and forever. May the saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary always inspire us to return to Christ no matter how we may wander into darkness. Jesus is Light from Light. pic.twitter.com/BInqtESYaH
Strickland has not directly responded to his removal, but he did write on X on Saturday, “Rejoice always that…no matter what the day brings Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, yesterday, today and forever. May the saints and the Blessed Virgin Mary always inspire us to return to Christ no matter how we may wander into darkness. Jesus is Light from Light.”
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
