Pope Francis canonized 14 individuals on Sunday, including the “martyrs of Damascus,” who were killed in Syria during the Ottoman Empire and represent symbols of Christian persecution.
The canonization ceremony took place in Saint Peter’s Square, attended by thousands of Catholics from around the globe.
After reciting each name, Francis stated, “We enroll them among the saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole Church.”
Canonization, the final step towards sainthood in the Catholic Church, follows beatification and requires three main conditions: the individual must have performed at least two miracles, be deceased for at least five years, and have led an exemplary Christian life.
Among those canonized, 11 are recognized as the “martyrs of Damascus,” who are being honored about 160 years after their deaths. These eight Franciscan friars and three lay Maronites were murdered by Druze militants in July 1860 while in a monastery in the Syrian capital, then part of the Ottoman Empire. They were beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1926.
Damascus hosts one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, but the Christian population has significantly declined to about two percent today, as many residents, both Christian and non-Christian, have fled since the onset of Syria’s civil war in 2011.
The other three individuals canonized were early 20th-century founders of religious communities: Italian missionary Giuseppe Allamano, Italian nun Elena Guerra, and Canadian Marie-Leonie Paradis.
Additionally, Pope Francis previously announced plans to canonize Italian teenager Carlos Acutis, known as “God’s Influencer” for spreading his faith online before his death from leukemia in 2006.
While the date for Acutis’s canonization has not been finalized, it may occur in 2025, coinciding with the Church’s Jubilee year, which is expected to attract over 30 million pilgrims to Rome.
