Vatican declares new martyrs; others advance toward beatification

May 10, 2012

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints has released a series of decrees paving the way for the canonization of 39 candidates, including 37 martyrs, and testifying to the “heroic virtue” of 11 others, including a 19th-century American bishop and a 20th-century American nun.

While approving these decrees, Pope Benedict XVI also announced that St. Hildegard of Bingen should be included in the directory of saints, thereby clearing up any lingering uncertainty about the status of the 12th-century German mystic (See today’s separate CWN story.)

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints confirmed the authenticity of miracles attributed to two candidates for beatification:

• Tommas da Olera (1563- 1631), an Italian professed Benedictine layman; and
• Maria Troncatti (1883- 1969), an Italian professed sister of the Congregation of the Daughters of Our Lady of Help.

Both will now be eligible for beatification.

The Congregation issued a series of decrees proclaiming the martyrdom of:

• Frederic Bachstein and 13 Franciscan companions, killed in Prague in 1611;
• Raimundo Castano Gonzalez and Jose Maria Gonzalez Solis, Dominican priests who died in Spain in 1936;
• Jaime Puig Mirosa and 18 companions of the Congregation of the Sons of the Sacred Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and Sebastian Llorens Telarroja, a layman, killed in Spain between 1936 and 1937; and
• Odoardo Focherini, an Italian layman, killed Germany in 1944.

Finally the Congregation attested to the “heroic virtue” exhibited by 11 candidates, who will now be eligible for beatification if a miracle is attributed to their influence:

• Raffaello Delle Nocche (1877-1960), an Italian bishop;
• Frederic Irenej Baraga (1797-1868), a Slovenian American who became the 1st bishop the Diocese of Marquette, Michigan;
• Pasquale Uva (1883-1955), an Italian diocesan priest;
• Baltazar Manuel Pardal Vidal (1886-1963), a Spanish diocesan priest;
• Francesco Di Paola Victor (1827-1905), a Brazilian diocesan priest;
• Jacques Sevin (1882-1951), a French Jesuit priest;
• Maria Josefa of the Blessed Sacrament (1846-1883), born Maria Josefa Recio Martin, founder of the Congregation of Hospitaller Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus;
• Teresa Demjanovich (1901-1927), an American professed sister of the Congregation of the Sisters of Chraity of St. Elizabeth;
• Emilia Engel (1893-1955), a German member of the community;
• Rachele Ambrosini (1925-1941), an Italian lay woman; and
• Maria Bolognesi (1924-1980), an Italian lay woman.

 

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Further information:

• Decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (VIS)