By Melissa Butz
Tapestries of the faces of the five new saints Pope Francis will name on Oct. 13 now adorn the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Each of these future saints bear very different stories. Cardinal John Henry Newman has one such story. The famous intellectual and theologian was baptized Anglican, but decided to be received in the Catholic Church at the age of 45. He became a priest and worked for Catholics’ rights in England.
Four women will also be canonized, among them a Brazilian, Sister Irma Dulce. Sr. Dulce died in 1992. Her canonization is the third-fastest in history. Her spirit of service resulted in her nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988. Many compare her to Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
Also to be canonized is Roman religious Giuseppina Vannini, co-founder of the Congregation of the Daughters of St. Camillus. She is known for her witness of charity toward the sick, poor and imprisoned.
Sister Mariam Thresia Chiramel will also be added to the list of new saints. She was born in India and founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family in Thrissur, a group dedicated to serving the most marginalized. She bore the stigmata, a sign of the Passion of the Lord.
Marguerite Bays, a seamstress who also bore the stigmata, will also be declared a saint. The Swiss Franciscan tertiary dedicated her life to the apostolate and to catechesis.