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Pope Leo XIV canonized seven religious figures who were posthumously boosted to sainthood on Sunday, including a former Satanic priest turned Catholic legend.
More than 70,000 onlookers turned out to the Vatican to witness the historic canonization, the second done by Pope Leo XIV’s since he was chosen as the new leader of the Catholic Church in May.
Among the celebrated lineup of figures was former Satanic priest Bartolo Longo, an Italian lawyer who found his way back to Catholicism and even helped found the Pontifical Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary of Pompeii.
Bartolo, who died in 1926 at 85 years old, first deviated from the Catholic Church after losing his mother early in life.
Around the same time, former Deputy of the Kingdom of Italy Giuseppe Garibaldi was pushing for the elimination of papal city states in order to unify Italy.
Soon, Bartolo wound up in the infamous occult, which wasn’t nearly as sophisticated then as it is now. He quickly rose to a high-ranking priest within the Satanic Church and spent more than a year presiding over various services and rituals, including promising himself to the devil.
But his departure from Catholicism was short-lived. He wound up rededicating himself to the church with renewed fervor, thanks to his family and a professor at the University of Naples, which he was attending for his law certification at the time, according to the Dominican Friars Foundation.
Before being promoted to a saint, Bartolo was already informally regarded as a patron saint for those struggling with their own spiritualism.
Other newly canonized figures in the lineup include an archbishop killed during the Armenian genocide, a lay catechist from Papua New Guinea, a Venezuelan “doctor of the poor” and three nuns who dedicated their lives to charity.
Portraits of the “seven witnesses” were unveiled in the windows around St. Peter’s Square, flanking the pope as he emerged from the basilica donning his ceremonial white cassock with a miter on his head.
“Today we have before us seven witnesses, the new Saints, who, with God’s grace, kept the lamp of faith burning. May their intercession assist us in our trials and their example inspire us in our shared vocation to holiness,” Leo said during his homily.
Last month, Leo anointed Carlo Acutis to sainthood after the process was started under the late Pope Francis. Acutis, who died after a battle with cancer at 15 years old, is known as “God’s Influencer” for his work creating a website cataloguing miracles worldwide.
Pier Giorgio Frassati, regarded as a model of charity who died at age 24 in 1925, was also canonized alongside Acutis.
In order for someone to be made a saint, they must be deceased, have performed at least two recorded miracles, and led an exemplary Christian life.
English (US)