Monday, October 12, 2009

Pope puts five more on road to sainthood

       Pope Benedict XVI yesterday canonised five new saints, including a man who dedicated his life to lepers in Hawaii and another considered one of the greatest mystics of the 20th century.
       The Pope also canonised Jeanne Jugan of France, who founded the order of the Little Sisters of the Poor. By the time she died in 1879, her institute had 2,500 workers looking after elderly women in 177 homes around the world.
       Jozef Damian de Veuster of Belgium moved to Molokai in Hawaii at the end of the 19th century, where he became known as "the lepers' apostle" for living on a colony for 16 years until he himself died in 1889 of the disease.
       Also canonised were Polish Archbishop Zygmunt Szczesny Felinski (1822-1895)and two Spanish monks - a Dominican,Francisco Coll y Guitart (1812-1875) and aTrappist, Rafael Arnaiz Baron (1911-1938).
       Baron, considered one of the greatest mystics of the 20th century, died aged 27 while he was a member of the Cistercian Order of Strict Observance.

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