Today the Vatican made several announcements regarding upcoming canonizations and beatifications—the two most notable (for American Catholics, at least) being the approval of miracles attributed to the intercession of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha and Blessed Marianne Cope. This move will pave the way for the canonization of the two American women; according to CNS’ report on the announcement, a consistory including the cardinals present in Rome must take place supporting the Pontiff’s decision before a date or dates for the canonizations can be set.
Biographies of Blessed Kateri and Blessed Marianne can be found here and here.
The Vatican also approved miracles attributed to the intercession of five other “blesseds”; from the CNS report:
— Blessed Giovanni Battista Piamarta, an Italian priest who founded the Congregation of the Holy Family of Nazareth for men and the Humble Servants of the Lord for women. He died in 1913.
— Blessed Jacques Berthieu, a French Jesuit priest who was martyred in Madagascar in 1896.
— Blessed Carmen Salles y Barangueras, the Spanish founder of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. She worked with disadvantaged girls and prostitutes and saw that early education was essential for helping young women. She died in 1911.
— Blessed Peter Calungsod, a lay Catholic from Cebu, Philippines, who accompanied Jesuit missionaries to Guam as a catechist and was martyred there in 1672 while he was in his late teens.
— Blessed Anna Schaffer, a lay German woman who wanted to be a missionary, but couldn’t do so after a succession of physical accidents and disease. She accepted her infirmity as a way of sanctification. Her grave has been a pilgrimage site since her death in 1925.
Sixty-four individuals “killed in hatred of the faith” during the Spanish Civil War were also recognized by the Vatican as martyrs, a critical step toward beatification.
The full declaration from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints can be read here, including the recognition of the “heroic virtue” of seven Servants of God.
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