Pope Leo XIV Recognizes a Miracle and Advances Over 80 People On the Path to Sainthood by Approving their Decrees


Pope Leo XIV has authorized six decrees from the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. The decision paves the way for the beatification of a Lebanese founding father and 80 Spanish Civil War martyrs, while also elevating four others to the status of "Venerable."

The decrees were approved during a meeting with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery.

The New Beatifications

1. 80 Spanish Martyrs of Santander

  • Context: Killed during the anti-Catholic persecutions of the 1930s Spanish Civil War.

  • The Group: Consists of 67 priests, 3 Carmelite religious, 3 seminarians, and 7 laypeople.

  • Their Ordeal: Many were drowned with weights tied to their bodies, died aboard prison ships, or perished in makeshift concentration camps.

  • Notable Figure: Fr. Francisco Gonzáles de Córdova (48) refused to abandon his parish despite threats. Imprisoned on a jail ship, he continued hearing confessions and requested to be executed last so he could bless his companions.

2. Patriarch Elias Hoyek (Lebanese 'Founding Father')

  • Background: Born in 1843, ordained in 1870, and elected Maronite Patriarch of Antioch in 1899.

  • Legacy: Co-founded the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family. During WWI, he opened monasteries to the hungry regardless of religion, dodging Ottoman deportation through papal diplomacy. He played a pivotal role in establishing the state of Lebanon in 1920.

  • The Recognized Miracle: The 1965 healing of Nayef Abou Assi, a Druze army officer with chronic spinal disease, who awoke completely cured after dreaming of the Patriarch.

Four New Venerables

The Pope also recognized the "heroic virtues" of four individuals, moving them one step closer to beatification:

+---------------------------+-------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Name                      | Dates       | Legacy / Distinctions                                       |
+---------------------------+-------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Br. Jean-Thierry          | 1982–2006   | Young Cameroonian Carmelite; offered his bone cancer        |
| of the Child Jesus        |             | suffering for vocations; professed vows on his deathbed.    |
+---------------------------+-------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Mother María Ana Alberdi  | 1912–1998   | Spanish Conceptionist Franciscan nun; survived the war,     |
| Echezarreta               |             | became Abbess, and successfully guided her order through   |
|                           |             | Vatican II reforms.                                         |
+---------------------------+-------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Fr. Costantino Vendrame   | 1893–1957   | Italian Salesian missionary in India; lived in extreme       |
|                           |             | poverty serving the poor; imprisoned during WWII.           |
+---------------------------+-------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| Fra Nazareno da Pula      | 1911–1992   | Sardinian Capuchin lay brother; former WWII POW; encouraged |
| (Giovanni Zucca)          |             | by Padre Pio; known as "the saint with the sweets."         |
+---------------------------+-------------+-------------------------------------------------------------+

Highlights of the New Venerables

  • Br. Jean-Thierry: A Cameroonian Carmelite who lost his leg to bone cancer at a young age. He offered his immense pain up for priestly vocations. His reported final words before dying at age 23 were: “So much light, so much light… How beautiful Jesus is!”

  • Fr. Costantino Vendrame: An Italian Salesian who traveled immense distances on foot across Northeast and South India. He was deeply revered by the local impoverished communities for his joyful optimism, even while held in a WWII prison camp.

  • Fra Nazareno da Pula: A WWII veteran who spent four years as a POW in Ethiopia. After consulting St. Padre Pio, he became a Capuchin lay brother. He earned his sweet nickname by handing out orange and lemon candies to passersby, asking them to pray a Hail Mary as they ate them.

  • Source - https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2026-05/pope-beatification-spanish-civil-war-martyrs-elias-hoyek-lebanon.html

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