photo: vaticannews.va
VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis presided over the Ordinary Consistory of Cardinals, which approved the canonization of 15 people, including Blessed Carlo Acutis, the first millennial to be declared a saint. The College of Cardinals met with Pope Francis at the Vatican's Apostolic Palace on Monday morning for a regular public consistory. The Pope led the cardinals staying in Rome during the morning Liturgy of the Hours, after which they proceeded to consider the causes of the canonization of several blesseds.
Cardinal Marcelo Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, delivered a short message - known in Latin as Peroratio- on the lives and miracles of the fifteen persons under consideration, whereupon the consistory voted and approved their canonization.
Martyrs and examples of faith
The largest group of the new saints were martyred in Damascus, Syria in 1860 and are known as the "Damascus Martyrs".
They include P. Manuel Ruiz López OFM, his seven companions and the brothers Abdel Moati, Francis and Rafael Massabki, three Maronite lay people.
All 11 were killed out of religious hatred during the Syrian Civil War in 1860, when Muslim militias killed thousands of Christians in Ottoman Syria.
According to Peroratio the Massabki brothers and eight Franciscans were murdered on the night of July 9, 1860, while praying in the Franciscan church in Damascus.
Two Italians - P. Giuseppe Allamano and S. Elena Guerra - were also approved for canonization. P. Allamano founded the Consolata Missionaries in the early 20th century. Sr. Guerra dedicated her life to the education of girls and founded the Oblates of the Holy Spirit in the late 19th century.
The Consistory approved the canonization of the Canadian-born nun, Sr. Marie-Léonie Paradis (née Virginia-Alodie Paradis), who founded the Little Sisters of the Holy Family in the early 20th century.
The first millennial saint
Pope Francis and the Consistory of Cardinals then voted to approve the canonization of the first saint of Generation Y, people born between 1981 and 1996, commonly known as millennials.
Blessed Carlo Acutis is likely to be declared a saint during the Jubilee in 2025, perhaps along with other canonizations.
Blessed Carlo was born to Italian parents in London, England in 1991, was a web designer and died of leukemia at the age of 15 in Monza, Italy.
He was known for his devotion to Eucharistic miracles and Marian apparitions, which he catalogued on a website he designed.
According to Peroratio Blessed Carlo was "helpful and caring towards the poorest of the poor and used the money he saved from his weekly allowance to help the homeless, the needy and immigrants".
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