In a radiant ceremony that filled St. Peter’s Square with prayer and song, Pope Leo XIV canonized seven new saints before a crowd of roughly 70,000 pilgrims on October 19, 2025. The Mass, celebrated under the Roman sun, coincided with World Mission Sunday, an appropriate backdrop for recognizing men and women whose lives reflected missionary zeal, courageous faith, and the power of conversion.
“Today we have before us seven witnesses, the new saints, who, with God’s grace, kept the lamp of faith burning,” Pope Leo said during his homily, according to The Times and Catholic News Agency (CNA). “Indeed, they themselves became lamps capable of spreading the light of Christ.”
Saints from the Ends of the Earth
Among those declared saints were the first canonized figures from Venezuela and Papua New Guinea — two milestones that drew immense joy from pilgrims waving their national flags across St. Peter’s Square.
St. José Gregorio Hernández Cisneros, a Venezuelan physician affectionately known as “the doctor of the poor,” was remembered for his service to the sick and destitute before his death in 1919. Joining him from his homeland was St. María del Carmen Rendiles Martínez, a woman born without her left arm who went on to found the Servants of Jesus in Caracas in 1965.
From the Pacific, St. Peter To Rot became Papua New Guinea’s first saint. A lay catechist martyred during World War II, he courageously defended Christian marriage against Japanese occupation authorities who permitted polygamy. His faithfulness cost him his life, but it also earned him the crown of sainthood.
Witnesses of Faith and Blood
St. Ignatius Choukrallah Maloyan, an Armenian Catholic archbishop, was canonized for his martyrdom during the Armenian genocide. According to CNA, before his execution he proclaimed, “I consider the shedding of my blood for my faith to be the sweetest desire of my heart.” His steadfastness in the face of persecution stands as a testament to the endurance of faith amid unspeakable suffering.
The Apostle of the Rosary
Perhaps the most remarkable story among the seven is that of St. Bartolo Longo, an Italian lawyer who once abandoned his Catholic faith, became an atheist, and even entered the satanic priesthood before experiencing a profound conversion. As The Times reported, he “renounced satanism and underwent a profound conversion, dedicating his life to the promotion of the rosary.”
Following his return to the Church, Longo devoted his life to building the Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii, transforming his past of darkness into a ministry of light. His canonization, Pope Leo noted, is a sign that no soul is beyond redemption.
Women of Charity and Mission
The pope also canonized two Italian religious sisters known for their tireless service and compassion. St. Vincenza Maria Poloni, founder of the Sisters of Mercy of Verona, was celebrated for her work among the poor and her courage during the cholera epidemic of 1836. St. Maria Troncatti, a Salesian missionary affectionately called “Madrecita” by the Indigenous Shuar people of Ecuador, spent 44 years as a nurse, surgeon, and catechist in the Amazon rainforest.
A Call to Mission and Peace
Before praying the Angelus, Pope Leo reminded the faithful that “the Church is entirely missionary,” urging prayers for men and women who “left everything to bring the Gospel to those who do not know it,” according to CNA.
The pope also used the occasion to make a heartfelt appeal for peace, lamenting renewed violence in Myanmar and praying for conflict zones including the Holy Land and Ukraine. “May God grant all leaders wisdom and perseverance to advance in the search for a just and lasting peace,” he said.
A Universal Witness of Holiness
The canonization of these seven saints — martyrs, missionaries, founders, and converts — reminds the Church that holiness takes many forms but flows from one source: a heart transformed by grace. As Pope Leo told the gathered faithful, “May their intercession assist us in our trials and their example inspire us in our shared vocation to holiness.”
Through their diverse lives, these saints show that faith can redeem even the darkest past, illuminate the most distant corners of the world, and bind the Church in the unity of Christ’s light — a light that now shines a little brighter from St. Peter’s Square.
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