Francisco proclaimed the first saint of Brazil – News

Pope Francis proclaimed the sanctity of Sister Dulce, nicknamed "Mother Teresa of Calcutta Brazilian", the first born in Brazil to be declared holy.

He did so during a ceremony on St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, during which the British Cardinal John Henry Newman was also canonized. At 44, he converted to Catholicism and the Italian nun Giuseppina Vannini, Mary Indian. Teresa Chiramel and the Swiss berries Marguerite.

The pope used the usual formula in Latin to proclaim holiness and ask for its inscription in the books of the saints of the Church, during the Mass that coincided with the celebration at the Vatican of the Synod of the Amazon.

Many faithful of Brazil, the Brazilian Vice President, Hamilton Mourão, as well as the postulator of the cause of his canonization, Paolo Vilotta, told the agency Efe.

He also had the presence of the heir to the British throne, Prince Charles of England.

The Brazilian María Rita de Souza Brito Lopes Pontes was born on May 26, 1914. This Sunday she was officially named "Santa Dulce de los Pobres".

Sister Dulce experienced the third fastest canonization process in the recent history of the Catholic Church. She was proclaimed holy only 27 years after her death, while St. John Paul II was proclaimed at the age of 9 and St. Theresa. of Calcutta, 19 years after his death.

In 1991, a few months before his death, he received the visit of Pope John Paul II in Brazil during his hospitalization and in 2011, he was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI.

The Brazilian saint gave her life to the poor, the sick and the needy. She founded in her hometown several charitable hospitals and a social support system that she headed until her death on March 13, 1992, at the age of 77. stressed the Vatican.

He left a legacy including a network of hospitals and health centers for the poor, serving five million people a year.

Beside her, the English cardinal and theologian John Henry Newman, beatified by Benedict XVI during his trip to the United Kingdom in 2010, was also sanctified.

The case of Newman (London, 1801) is peculiar because, during the early years of his life, he was a priest of the Anglican Church and very critical of the Catholic Church.

But at 44, in 1845, he converted to Catholicism. Shortly after entering the oratories of San Felipe Neri, he was ordained a Catholic priest, founded the congregation of the Oratory in England, founded a Catholic University in Dublin, and supervised a New Bible Translation.