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Pope Francis made the sainthoods in his first canonization ceremony
Thousands pack St Peter's Square as Pope Francis canonises 800 Italian saints who were slaughtered for refusing to convert to Islam
- Pope Francis made the sainthoods in his first canonization ceremony today
- The canonisations were approved by his predecessor Benedict XVI
- Vatican seemed at pains not to allow it to be interpreted as anti-Islamic
- The first pontiff from South America also gave Colombia its first saint
Pope Francis today proclaimed hundreds of 15th-century martyrs beheaded for refusing to convert to Islam as saints of the Catholic Church, as he led his first canonization ceremony in a packed St. Peter's Square.
The 'Martyrs of Otranto' were 813 Italians who were slain in the southern Italian city in 1480 for defying demands to renounce Christianity by Turkish invaders who overran the citadel.
Their approval for sainthood was decided upon by Francis' predecessor, Benedict XVI, in a decree read at the ceremony in February where the former pontiff announced his retirement.
Pope Francis delivers his speech during a canonization ceremony giving the Catholic Church hundreds of new saints in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican
Ceremony: Pope Francis, middle, kisses the altar as he arrives to celebrate his first canonization ceremony in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican today
It is estimated around 60,000 Catholics gathered in St. Peter's Square during Pope Francis' canonization mass at the Vatican
The Vatican seemed at pains not to allow the first canonisations of Francis' two-month-old papacy to be interpreted as anti-Islamic, saying the deaths of the 'Otranto Martyrs' must be understood in their historical context.
Shortly after his election in March, Francis called for more dialogue with Muslims but it is unclear how the granting of sainthood to the martyrs will be received.
The first pontiff from South America also gave Colombia its first saint - a nun who toiled as a teacher and spiritual guide to indigenous people in the 20th century.
With Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos among the VIPS, the Argentine pope held out Laura of St. Catherine of Siena Montoya y Upegui as a potential source of inspiration to the country's peace process, attempted after decades-long conflict between rebels and government forces.
Francis prayed that 'Colombia's beloved children continue to work for peace and just development of the country'.
Nuns place relics of the new saints on the altar during a canonization ceremony led by Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican
A woman holding a poster of Mother Laura Montoya who dedicated her life to working with poor people and became the country's first saint after Pope Francis canonized her in Rome today
Faithful Catholics spray around a poster of Mother Laura Montoya in her hometown of Jerico, Colombia, today as Pope Francis canonizes her during a ceremony in Rome
He also canonized another Latin American woman. Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala, a Mexican who dedicated herself to nursing the sick, helped Catholics avoid persecution during a government crackdown on the faith in the 1920s.
Francis told the crowd that the martyrs are a source of inspiration, especially for 'so many Christians, who, right in these times and in so many parts of the world, still suffer violence.' He prayed that they receive 'the courage of loyalty and to respond to evil with good.' Francis prayed that the new Mexican saint's intercession could help the nation 'eradicate all the violence and insecurity,' an apparent reference to years of bloodshed and other crime largely linked to powerful drug trafficking clans.
The pope didn't single out any country. But Christian churches have been attacked in Nigeria and Iraq, and Catholics in China loyal to the Vatican have been subject to harassment and sometimes jail over the last decades.
Christians in Saudi Arabia must worship out of the public eye because the ultraconservative kingdom does not officially permit churches and non-Muslim religious sites.
Francis, the first pope from the Jesuit order, which is known for its missionary zeal, praised the Colombian saint for 'instilling hope' in the indigenous people. He said she taught them in a way that 'respected their culture'.
Many Catholic missionaries over the centuries have been criticized for demanding natives renounce local traditions the outsiders viewed as primitive.
The pope also hailed the Mexican saint for renouncing a comfortable life to work with the sick and poor, even kneeling on the bare floor of the hospital before the patients to serve them with 'tenderness and compassion'.
Pope Francis arrives at the altar in St Peter's square at the Vatican for the Canonization mass of Italian Antonio Primaldo and his companions, Colombian Laura Montoya Upegui and Mexican Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala
Pope Francis places a thurible at the altar in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican as he leads his first Canonization mass
Pope Francis, in white, talks with cardinals at the end of a canonization mass in Saint Peter's Square today
Pope Francis waves to pilgrims in St. Peter's Square at Vatican today after canonising some 800 Italian martyrs who refused to convert to Islam in the 15th century
Mother Lupita's example, said Francis, should encourage people not to 'get wrapped up in themselves, their own problems, their own ideas, their own interests, but to go out and meet those who need attention, comprehension, help' and other assistance.
After shaking hands with the prelates and VIPS in the front rows at the end of the Mass, Francis shed his ceremonial vestments. Wearing a plain white cassock, he climbed into an open white popemobile to ride up and down the security paths surrounding the crowd of more than 60,000.
He stopped to pat children on the head, kiss babies and bantered in his native Spanish with some at the edge of the crowd.
Francis noted that the crowd included participants in an anti-abortion march of several thousand people, who walked a few kilometers (miles) from the Colosseum, crossing a bridge over the Tiber river to end near the Vatican while Mass was being celebrated in St. Peter's Square.
He drew attention to a signature-gathering drive in many Italian churches to push for a European initiative to 'guarantee legal protection for embryos, protecting every human being from the first instant of existence'.
Blessing: Pope Francis kisses a child at the end of the Canonization Mass in Saint Peter Square
Big occasion: The Pope waves to cheering crowds packed in St Peter's Square today for the ceremony
Pope Francis, wearing a plain white cassock, climbed into an open white popemobile to ride up and down the security paths surrounding the crowd of more than 60,000
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