Pope Leo XIV on Sunday declared seven new saints in a moving ceremony at St Peter’s Square in Vatican City, drawing tens of thousands of faithful who gathered to witness the historic moment.
The canonisation was marked by prayers, hymns, and the formal reading of the canonisation formula in Latin, officially welcoming the seven men and women into sainthood.
Among the newly canonised were Saint Ignatius Maloyan, an Armenian archbishop who died during the 1915 genocide; Saint Peter To Rot, Papua New Guinea’s first saint, killed for defending the sanctity of marriage; and Saint Vincenza Maria Poloni from Italy.
Others included Saint María Carmen Rendiles Martínez of Venezuela, Saint Maria Troncatti of Italy, Saint José Gregorio Hernández Cisneros of Venezuela, and Saint Bartolo Longo of Italy. Three of the saints were nuns remembered for their lifelong dedication to caring for the poor and sick, highlighting lives devoted to service, faith, and compassion.
Bartolo Longo’s canonisation drew particular attention. Once a priest of Satan, he returned to Catholicism and devoted his life to spreading devotion to the Virgin Mary, founding the Pontifical Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary of Pompeii.
“Today we have before us seven witnesses, the new saints, who, with God’s grace, kept the lamp of faith burning,” Pope Leo XIV said in his homily. “May their intercession assist us in our trials and their example inspire us in our shared vocation to holiness.”
As the Pope spoke, large portraits of the seven saints were unfurled from the basilica’s windows, eliciting applause and emotional cheers from the crowd, AFP reported. The ceremony celebrated the transformative power of faith and the enduring influence of those who dedicated their lives to God and humanity.
The journey to sainthood begins at the diocesan level, usually five years after a person’s death, when the local bishop investigates their life, writings, and reputation for holiness. Once evidence is gathered, the case is sent to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, and the person is named a Servant of God.
The Vatican’s theologians and historians then examine the individual’s life, and if confirmed to have lived with ‘heroic virtue’, the Pope may declare them Venerable. Beatification, which generally requires a verified miracle, allows public veneration in limited regions, except for martyrs who can be beatified without one. Canonisation, the final stage, follows confirmation of a second miracle and includes a public declaration by the Pope, permitting universal veneration and often adding the saint to the Church’s liturgical calendar.
