Progress on Canonizations

[Poche]

The Vatican has issued a series of decrees advancing the causes of 8 candidates for beatification.

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints, with the approval of Pope Francis, issued a decree on January 27 confirming the martyrdom of Pietro Asua Mendia, a Spanish priest who died in 1936 during that country’s civil war. He is now eligible for beatification.

The Congregation also recognized the “heroic virtue” of 7 other candidates, who will now be eligible for beatification if a miracle is confirmed through their intercession. They are:

1.Giuseppi Girelli (1886- 1978), an Italian priest;
2.Zacarias of St. Theresa (1887-1957), born Zacarias Salterain Viscarra, a Spanish Carmelite priest;
3.Marcelle Mallet (1805- 1871), a Canadian religious;
4.Maria Benita Arias (1822-1894), an Argentine religious;
5.Margerita De Brincat (!862-1952), a Maltese religious;
6.Seraphine (1913-1988), born Noemy Cinque, a Brazilian nun; and
7.Elisabetta Sanna (1788-1857), an Italian laywoman and Franciscan tertiary.