ARTICLES

50,000 pilgrims in Rome for new saints

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY — Fifty thousand pilgrims, young and old, healthy and infirm flocked to St. Peter’s Basilica and Square to show that the courage, love and influence of the newly proclaimed saints from the 19th century were still alive today.

Most who came from the United States for the Oct. 11 canonization ceremony were there for two of the five new saints: Belgian St. Damien de Veuster, who dedicated his life to those afflicted with leprosy in Molokai, Hawaii, and French-born St. Jeanne Jugan, foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor.

“We do not canonize saints to put them in a kind of Catholic hall of fame, but we canonize them so we can imitate them, grow in our love for God and dedicate ourselves to those who are most in need,” said Bishop Larry Silva of Honolulu, who led a group of more than 500 pilgrims from Hawaii.

Bishop Silva said St. Damien’s heroic work with the outcast of Kalaupapa has inspired many people over the past 120 years and “I think, with the canonization, people will still be inspired by him in perpetuity.”

The international reach of the new saints was evident by the colorful scarves and flags identifying pilgrims from Belgium, Poland, Spain, France and the United States. Some wore rainbow-colored leis.

About 4,000 pilgrims representing the Little Sisters of the Poor in the United States attended the canonization Mass. The sisters operate 31 residences in North America for people age 65 or older, emulating their founder’s ministry and spirituality.

(Among those in Rome for the canonization were members of a delegation which included Paul and Marie Antoinette Elbling of Richmond. The Elblings, longtime benefactors of St. Joseph’s in Richmond, operated by the Little Sisters of the Poor, had special passes which gained them entrance inside St. Peter’s.

Mr. and Mrs. Elbring, who operated the former La Petite France restaurant in Richmond, helped organize the French Festival held at St. Joseph’s Home last April, an event which raised $37,000 for the home. They returned home Oct. 12 in time to supply several photos, two of which appear in this issue.

Mother Marcelle Joseph, superior of St. Joseph’s Home, was also in Rome for the canonization.

Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo will preside at the diocesan celebration of St. Jeanne Jugan’s canonization on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart.)

Eleanor Dunne, 86, who lives at the Jeanne Jugan Residence in Somerville, Mass., said it was “a real celebration and an honor to be here.” At her residence, she said, the sisters “welcome the elderly; they’re so caring and everyone feels it’s a privilege to be with them.”

Theresa Saxton of Newark, Del., who has volunteered for the Little Sisters for 37 years, said they held bake sales and rummage sales and found sponsors so they could offer some of the residents an all-expenses-paid trip to Rome.

Sister Diane Shelby, one of the Little Sisters at the congregation’s home in Washington, said St. Jeanne showed that the lives of the elderly still have value and that God loves them.

The pilgrim contingent from Hawaii included Audrey Toguchi, the woman whose cancer cure was declared by the Vatican to be the second miracle needed to make Father Damien a saint.

She told CNS that she feels his canonization “is a stamp of approval” for the way he gave up his own life to help others.

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