Catholic World News News Feature

85 candidates move toward canonization, beatification December 18, 2006

On December 16, Pope Benedict XVI approved a series of decrees by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, clearing the way for the canonization of 8 people and the beatification of 73 others.

Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, the president of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, announced the eight decrees that attest to the validity of miracles, eight others recognizing martyrs, and four proclaiming the “heroic virtue” of candidates for beatification.

In four cases, the decrees attest to miracles performed through the intercession of candidates who have already been beatified, and are thus eligible for canonization:

1. Blessed Szymon of Lipnica (1439- 1482), a Polish priest;
2. Blessed Antonio de Santa Ana (1739- 1822), known in secular life as Antonio Galvao de Franca, a Brazilian priest;
3. Blessed Charles of St. Andrew (1821- 1893), knokwn in secular life as Johannes Andreas Houben, a Dutch priest; and
4. Blessed Marie Eugenie de Jesus (1817-1898), known in secular life as Anne-Eugenie Milleret de Brou, a French nun.

In four other cases, the decrees attest to miracles performed through the intercession of candidates who are now eligible for beatification:

1. Carlo Liviero (1866-1932), an Italian bishop;
2. Stanislaus of Jesus Mary (1631-1701), known in secular life as Jana Papczynski, a Polish priest;
3. Celina Chludzinska (1833-1913), a Polish woman who entered religious life after her husband’s death; and
4. Marie Celine of the Presentation (1878-1897), known in secular life as Jeanne-Germaine Castang, a French nun.

Eight more decrees attested to the martyrdom of a total of 73 people-- most of them victims of the religious persecution at the time of the Spanish Civil War-- who are also now eligible for beatification:

1. Manuel Gomez Gonzalez, a Spanish priest, and Adilio Daronch, a Brazilian layman, both killed in Brazil in 1924;
2. Albertina Berkenbrock, a Brazilian, lay woman, killed in 1931;
3. Eufrasio of the Baby Jesus (né Eufrasio Barredo Fernandez), a Spanish Carmelit priest, killed in 1934;
4. Lorenzo, Virgilio and 44 companions of Marist Brothers in Spain, killed in 1936;
5. Enrique Izquierdo Palacios and 13 companions of the Spanish Dominicans, killed in 1936;
6. Ovidio Beltran, Hermenegildo Lorenzo, Luciano Pablo, Estanislao Victor, and Lorenzo Santiago, members of the Institute of Brothers of the Christian Schools, and Jose Maria Canovas Martinez, Spanish, a lay parish aide, killed in Spain in 1936;
7. Maria del Carmen and Rosa and Magdalena Fradera Ferragutcasas, Spanish religious, killed in 1936; and
8. Lindalva Justo de Oliviera, a Brazilian nun, killed in 1993.

Four decrees attested to the heroic virtue that marked the lives of four candidates, who may now be beatified if a miracle is attributed to their intercession. They are:

1. Mamerto Esquiu (1826-1883) an Argentine Franciscan and bishop;
Salvatore Micalizzi (1856-1937), an Italian priest;
2. José Olallo Valdes (1820-1889), a Cuban religious; and
3. Stefan Kaszap (1916-1935), a Hungarian Jesuit novice.