Pope Francis Declares 16 Carmelites Killed During French Revolution as Saints
In a decree published on December 18, Pope Francis declared 16 Discalced Carmelite nuns executed by guillotine during the French Revolution as martyrs. The Church did not use the usual process for the creation of a saint but by a rare process known as “equivalent canonization.” This process recognizes the long-standing veneration of the martyrs.
Pope Francis approved placing Blessed Teresa of St. Augustine and 15 other members of the Discalced Carmelites of Compiègne killed during the French Reign of Terror in the canon of saints. Two years after the French revolutionary government outlawed religious life in 1790, the community of Discalced Carmelites in Compiègne was forced to leave their monastery. In 1794, they were discovered to have continued living in community as consecrated women. They were tried and publicly executed by guillotine on July 17, 1794. As they moved towards martyrdom, they sang hymns of praise.
The story of these nuns inspired Francis Poulenc’s 1957 opera Dialogue of the Carmelites which was based on the book by the same name by Catholic novelist Georges Bernanos.
The pope recognized the heroic virtues of five others as well, including Archbishop Eduard Profitlich, a Jesuit, who died in a Russian prison in 1942; Salesian Elia Comini; the layman Pierre Goursat, founder of the Emmanuel Community; Áron Márton of Romania; and Giuseppe Maria Leone from the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.
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