Pope Francis (C) presides the Holy Mass and canonisation of 14 saints and martyrs from Damascus, at the Saint Peter’s Square in the Vatican on October 20, 2024. (Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP)
Pope Francis on Sunday canonised 14 new saints, including the “Martyrs of Damascus,” who were killed in Syria during the Ottoman Empire and are considered symbols of Christian persecution.
The canonisation ceremony, held in Saint Peter’s Square, was attended by thousands of Catholic faithful from across the globe.
“We enrol them among the saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole Church,” Francis declared, after reading each of their names.
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Canonisation is the final step towards sainthood in the Catholic Church, following beatification, which requires the individual to have performed at least two miracles, lived an exemplary Christian life, and been deceased for at least five years.
Among those canonised were 11 “Martyrs of Damascus,” recognised as saints 160 years after their deaths. The group, consisting of eight Franciscan friars and three lay Maronite siblings, was assassinated by Druze militants in July 1860 in Damascus, then under Ottoman rule. They were previously beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1926.
Pope Francis (C) presides the Holy Mass and canonisation of 14 saints and martyrs from Damascus, at the Saint Peter’s Square in the Vatican on October 20, 2024. (Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP)
Damascus, historically one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, now has a Christian population of just two percent, according to the Vatican, due to mass emigration, especially since the onset of Syria’s civil war in 2011.
Vatican News noted that the martyrdom of the Damascus group mirrors the plight of many Christians in the Middle East today.
The remaining three individuals canonised were religious founders from the early 20th century: Italian missionary Giuseppe Allamano, Italian nun Elena Guerra, and Canadian Marie-Leonie Paradis.
Pope Francis (C) presides the Holy Mass and canonisation of 14 saints and martyrs from Damascus, at the Saint Peter’s Square in the Vatican on October 20, 2024. (Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE / AFP)
In addition to these, Pope Francis previously announced plans to canonise Italian teenager Carlos Acutis, known as “God’s Influencer” for spreading his faith online before his death from leukaemia in 2006. His canonisation is expected during the Church’s Jubilee Year in 2025, when more than 30 million pilgrims are projected to visit Rome.
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