Quebec's Brother Andre Canonized as Saint

Saint Andre Bessette, of Canada
(GREGORIO BORGIA / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Quebec's Brother Andre canonized as Canada's 1st saint of the 21st century - Winnipeg Free Press

The photograph and following excerpt is from Winnipeg Free Press:

By Nelson Wyatt and Melanie Marquis - The Canadian Press

MONTREAL - Brother Andre, the humble Quebec cleric who was credited with miracle healings before his death in 1937, became Canada's first saint of the 21st century Sunday in a moving ceremony at the Vatican.

People applauded and cheered in Montreal at the ornate St. Joseph's Oratory — which was founded by Brother Andre — when Pope Benedict bestowed the honour on him.

The Pope noted that Saint Andre was poorly educated but nevertheless understood what was essential to his faith.

"Doorman at the Notre Dame College in Montreal, he showed boundless charity and did everything possible to soothe the despair of those who confided in him," Benedict said.

Thousands packed St. Peter's Square for the event, including many Canadians who made the trip to Rome for the canonization. An official Canadian delegation was led by Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon and included Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay.

Francoise Bessette, whose grandfather was Brother Andre's first cousin, was among the thousands of Canadians in St. Peter's Square.

"I didn't think this would happen while I was alive," said Bessette, whose brother was named after the saint. "So to be here today is very special for me."

Alain Pilote, a 49-year-old pilgrim from Rougemont, near Montreal, who came for the mass, said, "I think all the people from Quebec are happy now."

He was declared "venerable" by Pope Paul VI in 1978, and beatified — declared "blessed" — by Pope John Paul II in 1982.

Benedict announced his canonization in February after recognizing a second miracle attributed to Brother Andre.

Read More: Quebec's Brother Andre Canonized as Saint

Mary MacKillop Officially Declared a Saint



Mary MacKillop - Australia's First Saint - AFP Photo


Mary MacKillop officially declared a saint - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

The photograph and following excerpt is from the Australian Boadcasting Corporation:

Mary MacKillop has officially been declared Australia's first Catholic saint - Saint Mary MacKillop of the Cross.

Pope Benedict XVI addressed over 50,000 pilgrims who gathered at the Vatican in Rome, of which about 9,000 were from Australia.

St Peter's Square was awash with Australian flags and gold balloons bearing Mary MacKillop's image, as pilgrims packed in to hear the pope's vital words.

Pope Benedict spoke about the achievements of Mary MacKillop.

"She attended to the needs of each young person entrusted to her without regard for station or wills, providing both intellectual and spiritual formation," he said.

The pope also canonised Canada's Brother Andre and four other saints from Italy, Poland and Spain and declared that "throughout the Church they be honoured devoutly among all the saints."

Born in 1842 in Fitzroy, Melbourne, after her mother and father migrated to Australia from Scotland, Mary MacKillop dedicated her early life to educating poor children in regional Penola, South Australia, and at the age of 25 founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart.

She was the first Australian nun to set up an order and the first to go outside the cities and administer to the poor.

In the early 1990s the Vatican accepted she was responsible for miraculously curing a woman who had leukaemia in 1961 and in 2009 Pope Benedict XVI confirmed her second miracle, which involved the healing of a woman with inoperable lung cancer during the mid-1990s.

Read More: Mary MacKillop Officially Declared a Saint