Pope Francis is breaking records again, with the most number of saints. In the past three years, he has canonized 839 of them. The numerical figures are tricky because 813 of them belong to a group of martyrs of Otranto, whom he canonized in 2013 in the same ceremony.
This year the number will continue to grow, because the Pope has already announced that he will canonize five new saints.
The most famous is Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who will be canonized in Rome on September 4th.
Just over a month later, on October 16, Pope Francis will canonize the Cristero boy, Jose Sanchez del Rio and popular 'the Gaucho priestâ? of Argentina.
In addition, on June 5, he will canonize a Polish priest Stanislaus of Jesus and Mary and the Swedish nun Maria Elisabeth Hesselblad, who dedicated her life to ecumenism and the poorest.
By far, one of the most popular saints that he has canonized was his predecessor, John Paul II.
Although one of the most anticipated ceremonies was this one; where for the first time in history, a married couple was canonized, the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux. Therefore, the date of the celebration is the day of their wedding.
Throughout these three years, the Pope has held seven large canonization ceremonies. He has also automatically canonized five great missionaries of the Church History which already were considered saints. Among them is Jose de Anchieta, evangelizer of Brazil; or Peter Faber, one of the first known Jesuits.
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