5 martyrs recognized; 7 other sainthood causes advance

October 01, 2015

In a September 30 audience with the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Pope Francis approved decrees of the martyrdom of Father Valentín Palencia Marquina and his four companions, clearing the way for their beatification.

The five were killed out of hatred for the faith in Suances, Spain, in 1937, during the Spanish Civil War.

In addition, the Pope approved decrees on the heroic virtues of seven servants of God, who may now be honored with the title “venerable”:

• Father Giovanni Folci (1890-1963), an Italian diocesan priest who founded the Opera del Divin Prigionero (the Work of the Divine Prisoner);
• Father Franciszek Blachnicki (1921-87), who was born in Poland and died in Germany;
• Father José Rivera Ramírez (1925-91), a Spanish diocesan priest;
• Father Juan Manuel Martín del Campo (1917-86), a Mexican diocesan priest;
• Father Antonio Filomeno Maria Losito (1838-1917), an Italian Redemptorist priest;
• Sister Maria Benedetta Giuseppa Frey (1836-1913), an Italian Cistercian nun; and
• Hanna Chrzanowska (1902-73), a Polish nurse and lay oblate

 

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Further information:

• Promulgazione di Decreti della Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi (Holy See Press Office)