Three new saints canonised

St Bonifacia Rodriguez Castro

Pope Benedict XVI declared three new saints on Mission Sunday: two Italians, Guido Maria Conforti (1865-1931) and Luigi Guanella (1842-1915), and a Spaniard, Bonifacia Rodriguez Castro (1837-1905).

Addressing the crowds in St Peter's Square during the canonisation Mass, the Holy Father said: "Christians can show the world God's love by loving their neighbour. Today, the Church shows its members three new saints who let themselves be transformed by divine charity."

Conforti was a bishop who founded the Saveriani Missionaries. Pope Benedict said:
"With all his strength he dedicated himself to the good of those souls in his care, especially those who had distanced themselves from the path of the Lord."

Luigi Guanella worked with mentally handicapped people and abandoned children and founded an organisation called the Servants of Charity. He "brought comfort and relief to the poorest and the weakest," and shone with "God's presence and charity, the God who defended the stranger, the widow, the orphan, the poor man," Pope Benedict said.

Rodriguez Castro, the daughter of a tailor, was also active in social causes and helped create jobs for marginalised women. She founded the Congregation of Servants of Saint Joseph.

Pope Benedict said: "From a young age Saint Bonifacia knew how to honour Jesus Christ in her daily work. ... The Servants of Saint Joseph were born out of humility and the simplicity of the Gospel."

The service was interrupted for a few minutes when a Romanian man climbed onto a roof overlooking the square and set fire to a Bible, waving the burning pages in the air over the heads of the crowds. Police moved the pilgrims sitting under him to safely and eventually persuaded him to come down.

Source: VIS