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Monday, June 04, 2007
Pope canonizes 4 new saints
MANILA -- Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday canonized four new saints, one of them the founder of the Religious of the Assumption order that established a Catholic school attended by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Declared saints were Maria Eugenie de Jesus Milleret, Karel Van Sint Andres Houben, Szymon z Lipnicy, and Greco Preca. Their canonization brings to 14 the number of saints canonized by Pope Benedict XVI since he became pope in 2005.
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The canonization rites were held at the St. Peter's Square at 4 p.m. (Manila time) under a heavy downpour. Big icons of the three saints stood on one side of the venue.
Like the rest of about 40,000 devotees, Arroyo held her own umbrella. She was seated in the same row as Ireland President Mary MacAleese, Malta President Edward Fenech Adami, and Poland President Lech Kaczynski.
The pilgrims from the Philippines included alumni from the Assumption Convent School in Makati City, where Arroyo studied from elementary to college.
Blessed Marie Eugenie was born in Metz, France in 1817 and founded the religious order in 1839. She died in 1898 and was beatified by Pope Paul VI in 1975.
The miracle attributed to her is the continued extraordinary condition of Maria Carmela Thérèse Eugénie "Risa" Bondoc, who is able to live the normal life of a 12-year-old despite the fact that the two hemispheres of her brain are not joined.
Doctors from the Philippines and the US have said she would not be able to walk, talk, and see and would be prone to seizures and other illnesses related to brain damage.
Bondoc, who is part of the Philippine delegation to Rome, is a student in Assumption College's Department of Basic Education.
The others who were canonized were:
* Greco Preca, a diocesan priest and founder of the Society of Christian Doctrine. He was born on Feb. 12, 1880 in Valleta, Malta and died on July 26, 1962 in Malta.
* Karel Van Sint Andres Houben, a priest of the Congregation of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He was born in the Netherlands on Dec. 11, 1821 and died in Ireland on Jan. 5, 1893.
* Szymon z Lipnicy, a priest of the Order of Friars Minor. He was born in Poland in 1435 and died on July 18, 1482.
After the canonization rites, President Arroyo attended a luncheon hosted by the Assumption Committee for the Canonization at the Hotel Michaelangelo. She then met with the Filipino community at the Fontifico Collegio Filipino.
Afterwards, she met with the Filipino Assumption delegation at the Sao Paolo VI, Piazza Paolo VI at the Vatican.
On Monday, the President will have an audience with the Pope at the Sala del Trono at the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican at 5 p.m. (Manila time) followed by a meeting with Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone.
It will be Arroyo's second time to meet with Pope Benedict XVI. The first time was last year, when she presented to the Pope a copy of the newly enacted law abolishing the death penalty.
From Rome, Arroyo will fly to Portugal for an official visit, where she will meet with Portugese President Anibal Cavaco Silva and visit the Assembly of the Republic, a unicameral parliament of 230 deputies. (JMR/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pampanga. (June 4, 2007 issue)
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