Pope Francis has approved decrees promulgated by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, advancing the causes of sainthood for five individuals. The move paves the way for the canonization of three blesseds and the beatification of two venerables.
Blessed Peter To Rot of Papua New Guinea, Blessed Ignatius Shoukrallah Maloyan of Turkey, and Blessed MarÃa Carmen of Venezuela will be proclaimed saints of the Church. The pope also approved the beatification of Italian diocesan priest Carmelo De Palma and declared Brazilian priest José Antônio de Maria Ibiapina a “venerable” of the Church.
To Rot, a lay catechist and martyr, will become the first canonized saint from Papua New Guinea. Maloyan, an Armenian archbishop, was martyred in Turkey in 1915, while MarÃa Carmen, a Venezuelan religious sister, was known for her love for Jesus in the Eucharist.