Pope Francis announced the canonization of several new saints, including the founder of the Consolata Missionaries, Blessed Giuseppe Allamano, and Brother Ruiz Lopez with ten other martyrs, friars minor and lay people, killed in Syria in 1860. The rite solemn event will be held on October 20th. Furthermore, the founders Sister Marie-Léonie Paradis and Elena Guerra will be elevated to the honors of the altars. Blessed Carlo Acutis, a young layman passionate about the Eucharist, will be canonized later, probably during the Jubilee of 2025, as established by Pope Francis – reports Vatican News – during the ordinary public Consistory today, 1 July, in the Consistory Hall of the Palace Vatican Apostolic.
Giuseppe Allamano, a Piedmontese who lived between 1851 and 1926, will be registered in the Register of Saints next autumn. Although health problems prevented him from leaving for the missions, in 1901 he founded the Consolata Mission Institute in Turin, from the Marian sanctuary of which he was rector. Subsequently, at the request of Pius X, he also created a women’s branch of the institute. John Paul II proclaimed him blessed in 1990.
Manuel Ruiz López and seven companions of the Order of Friars Minor, together with the lay people Francis, Mooti and Raffaele Massabki, were killed for their faith in Damascus between 9 and 10 July 1860. A group of Druze militiamen, coming from Lebanon, attacked the convent and the Franciscan church of San Paolo, killing eight friars minor and three Maronite Christians. These martyrs were beatified in 1926 by Pius XI and will be proclaimed saints on 20 October.
Marie-Léonie Paradis, a Canadian nun who lived between 1840 and 1912, founded the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Holy Family. Elena Guerra, born and lived in Lucca in the 19th century, founded the Congregation of the Oblates of the Holy Spirit, known as the “Sisters of Santa Zita”, dedicated to the education of girls. Both will be canonized by Pope Francis on October 20.
The canonization date for Carlo Acutis has not yet been set, but it is highly anticipated and will probably take place during the Jubilee of 2025. Carlo, a young “patron saint of the web”, was beatified by Pope Francis on 10 October 2020 in Assisi. Born in 1991 and died in 2006 at just 15 years old from a serious form of leukemia, Carlo is remembered for his profound devotion to the Eucharist. From a young age, he showed a strong desire to communicate the faith through modern means of communication, curating the website of the parish and his school, and organizing an international exhibition on 136 Eucharistic miracles. Carlo is venerated in the Sanctuary of the Spoliation in Assisi.
