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Pope Canonizes 6
and Calls for Rediscovery
of Family and Religious Life
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John Paul II proposed the rediscovery of
the beauty of the family and religious life, when canoncizing
six modern figures of holiness in St. Peter Square.
Among the new saints is Italian Gianna
Beretta Molla (1922-1962), a doctor, who at 39 decided to
accept the risk of death rather than undergo treatment that
would have aborted her unborn child.
Another saint is Joseph Manyanet y Vives
(1833-1901), Catalan priest known as the “prophet of the
family,” founder of two religious congregations (Sons of
the Holy Family, Jesus, Mary and Joseph as well as the
Missionary Daughters of the Holy Family of Nazareth), and a
promoter of the Holy Family church in Barcelona, Spain. Of St.
Joseph Manyanet, John Paul II said: “The Gospel of the
family, lived by Jesus in Nazareth together with Mary and
Joseph, was the moving force of his pastoral charity and
inspired his teaching.”
The other two saints were friends and
founders of religious congregations. One was Father Liugi
Orione (1872-1940), an Italian priest who founded the Little
Work of Divine Providence and of the Little Sisters
Missionaries of Charity to assist the poorest, specially the
disabled. The other was Father Annibale Maria Di Francia
(1851-1927), one of the most importants spiritual figures of
Italy at the end of the 19th century and early 20th. He founded
the Rogationist Fathers of the Heart of Jesus, and the
Daughters of Divine Zeal.
Also canonized were Nimatullah Kassab
Al-Hardini (1808-1858), a priest of the Lebanese Maronite
Order, and Paola Elizabetta Cerioli (1816-1865), an Italian
widow and mother of a family. The latter founded of two
religious congregations for women, dedicated to helping
families.
