Causes of saints: Pope paves the way for 3 canonizations

Two of these cases have benefited from a special dispensation procedure for miracles. Two decrees concerning a future Italian blessed and a Brazilian venerable have also been approved.

A first decree recognizes a miracle attributed to the intercession of a Venezuelan religious sister, Blessed Maria del Monte Carmelo, whose birth name was Carmen Elena Rendiles Martinez. Born without a left arm, this figure who dedicated her life to the poor, the sick, and priests, will be the first female saint of Venezuela.

Born in Caracas on August 11, 1903 into a large, very devout family, Carmen's childhood was full of trials. In addition to her physical handicap, which made it difficult for her to be accepted into a religious congregation, she lost a brother and her father.

The woman who would be called “Mother Carmen” felt the call to devote herself to God from a very young age. She gave up her passion for art — in particular drawing — to join the Handmaids of Jesus of the Blessed Sacrament.

Having become responsible for the provinces of Venezuela and Colombia, in 1965 she requested the separation from the French branch. She wanted to found her own congregation: the Handmaids of Jesus of Caracas. The biographers of Mother Carmen report her kindness, generosity and gentleness – including towards “those who made her suffer” – as well as her devotion to the Eucharist. She was beatified on June 16, 2018.

The miraculous healing attributed to her intercession – necessary for her canonization – is that of a woman diagnosed in 2015 with idiopathic triventricular hydrocephalus, a cerebral neurological pathology. Despite surgery, her condition worsened until she reached a so-called vegetative state in 2018. 

An aunt of the patient then prayed for her at the grave of Mother Carmen, and an image of the religious was brought to her bedside. Within a few weeks, the patient began to walk, communicate and feed herself again. Her inexplicable recovery has now been declared “complete, stable, and lasting.”

The Pope also approved a vote by the dicastery in favor of the canonization of the layman Blessed Peter To Rot. Born in New Guinea in 1912 (at the time a German colony under the name of New Pomerania), he grew up in a family that had recently converted to Catholicism.

His father refused to let him become a priest but sent him to train as a catechist with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. On his return to his village of Rakunai, Peter To Rot became a teacher who was loved by his students. He married a woman named Paula, with whom he had three children.

In 1942, Japanese forces drove out the Australian forces occupying New Guinea and decided to considerably restrict the rights of Christians, prohibiting Masses in particular. Peter To Rot continued to work underground as a catechist. In 1943, he opposed a corrupt policeman who wanted to steal another man's wife to make her his second wife, as was permitted under Japanese law.

Peter To Rot was denounced and arrested, and the Japanese discovered his catechetic activities. Refusing to abandon his ministry and continuing to oppose polygamy, he was finally put to death by the Japanese. They decided to execute him by lethal injection. As the poison took a long time to take effect, the catechist was finished off with blows to the back of the neck with a stick.

In 1995, Pope John Paul II celebrated the beatification Mass of Peter To Rot during a trip to Papua New Guinea. Pope Francis also visited the Pacific archipelago in September 2024. He paid tribute to Blessed Peter To Rot during a meeting with several thousand Catholics in Sir John Guise Stadium in Port Moresby, describing him as an “extraordinary example” for them. He praised the fruitfulness of his courage, emphasizing how his martyrdom was the origin of “so many new believers.”

By approving this vote of the members of the dicastery, the Argentine pontiff paved the way for the canonization of this figure without recognition of a miracle, as is usually the case. Indeed, the bishops of Papua New Guinea have requested an exemption, explains the website of the dicastery.

They have pointed out the difficulty of documenting a miracle due to the scarcity of hospitals capable of providing scientific expertise and due to the local culture, which is essentially oral and where English is not widely spoken.

The third future saint, the Armenian Archbishop Ignatius Choukrallah Maloyan, also benefited from a special dispensation. He was martyred at the age of 46 and was beatified on October 7, 2001, by John Paul II. The pontiff praised him as a model Christian who “never accepted any compromise.”

Born in Mardin, Turkey, on April 19, 1869, he entered the Bzommar monastery in Lebanon at the age of 14 and was ordained a priest in 1896 under the name of Ignatius. The following year, he was sent on a mission to Egypt. There, his qualities came to the attention of Patriarch Boghos Bedros XII Sabbaghian, who made him his private secretary in 1904.

Then, in 1911, he was elected Archbishop of Mardin in Turkey. But at the dawn of the First World War, in 1915, Armenians living in Turkey (the Ottoman Empire at the time) began to be persecuted and the archbishopric of Mardin became the target of searches. Knowing he was in danger, Archbishop Maloyan gathered his priests and read them his last will and testament, in which he preached martyrdom.

On June 3, 1915, Turkish officers arrested him and 27 members of the community. The archbishop was tortured and sentenced to death for treason, along with his flock. The head of the gendarmerie, Mamdouh Bey, offered them a pardon if they converted to Islam. “We have never been unfaithful to the State ... but if you want to ask us to be unfaithful to our religion, never, never, never,” replied Archbishop Maloyan. “Never,” repeated his followers. The archbishop was shot dead.

In order to proceed with their canonization, these three causes must be validated, according to custom, during a consistory – a meeting of cardinals with the Pope. In this case, they will be included in the consistory already convened by Pope Francis – with no date set – while he was at the Gemelli hospital in Rome on February 25.

In total, five causes should therefore be dealt with during this consistory. The three new cases are in addition to the two future saints who had already been announced: the Venezuelan lay blessed José Gregorio Hernández Cisneros (1869-1919), and the Italian lay blessed Bartolo Longo (1841-1926).

The Holy See has still not set a date for this consistory, the announcement of which has caused a great deal of ink to be spilled: This, because it was during such a meeting of cardinals that Benedict XVI announced his resignation on February 11, 2013.

The Church has also recognized a miracle attributed to the intercession of a venerable Italian priest, Carmelo De Palma, who may therefore soon be beatified.

Born on January 27, 1876 in Bari, Puglia, Carmelo De Palma was orphaned at a very young age. He entered the seminary at the age of 10 and was ordained a priest at the age of 22 in Naples. Carmelo suffered from poor health all his life.

For 50 years, he held various positions at the Basilica of Saint Nicholas in Bari. He dedicated a large part of his ministry to confessions, to the point that he was nicknamed “the hero of the confessional.”

He had an affinity for Benedictine spirituality, and became the spiritual director at the convent of Benedictine nuns in Bari in the last years of his life. Gradually going blind and overcome by infirmity, he celebrated his last public mass in February 1961 and died on August 24, 1961.

The miraculous healing that paved the way for his beatification was that of a Benedictine nun from the monastery of St. Scholastica in Bari. Following a fever in 2001, she experienced the progressive weakening of her upper and lower limbs. After several diagnoses and treatments, the doctors observed a compression of the spinal cord, with disabling consequences. The patient was offered a neurosurgical operation involving very high risks, which she refused.

In 2003, when the remains of Carmelo De Palma were transferred to her monastery for burial, the mother abbess invited the nuns to ask for the priest's intercession for her healing.

On June 1, 2003, the nun experienced a sudden improvement during the night, regaining her motor skills. Repeated examinations carried out until 2010 confirmed the miracle: the pressure on the bone marrow persisted but no longer had a pathological effect.

Lastly, Pope Francis has authorized the recognition of the heroic virtues of the Brazilian priest José Antonio Maria Ibiapina. Born on August 5, 1806 in Sobral in northeastern Brazil, into a Christian family of 8 children, his early vocation was thwarted by events. Between 1923 and 1928, he left the seminary for the first time upon the death of his mother. He left a second time after the arrest of his father and brother, considered to be confederates during the struggle for independence against Portugal. Then, he left a third time to study law and support his family as a magistrate.

Elected to the national parliament in 1834, he introduced a bill to prohibit the disembarkment of slaves from Africa on Brazilian territory. But his attempts remained unsuccessful, and he resigned from his post as a judge and settled in Recife as a lawyer for the poor.

In 1850, he retired to a life of solitude to devote himself to prayer, and was ordained a priest late in life in 1853 for the diocese of Paraiba. Fr. José Antonio Maria Ibiapina became a teacher, spiritual guide, and founder of numerous shelters and care homes. He gained great renown for his devotion to the sick during the cholera epidemic that struck the region. Fr. Ibiapina died on February 19, 1883, after several years of painful, paralyzing illness.

Recognition of his virtues is the first stage in his cause for canonization. In view of his beatification, a miracle due to his intercession will have to be recognized.