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- Pope Benedict XVI canonized an 18th-century Franciscan monk as Brazil's first native-born saint Friday, as hundreds of thousands cheered and waved flags from all corners of South America.
Seated on a throne of Brazilian hardwood and surrounded by Latin American bishops and choirs of hundreds, Benedict pronounced the sainthood of Antonio de Sant'Anna Galvao, an 18th-century Franciscan monk who is credited by the church with 5,000 miracle cures.
The canonization makes Galvao the first native-born saint from the world's largest Roman Catholic country, home to more than 120 million of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics.
"Do you realize how big this is?" asked Herminia Fernandes, who joined the multitude that jammed an airfield for the open-air Mass. "It's huge, this pope is visiting Brazil for the first time and at the same time he is giving us a saint. It's a blessing."
Friar Galvao began a tradition among Brazilian Catholics of handing out tiny rice-paper pills, inscribed with a Latin prayer, to people seeking cures for all manner of ailments. Although he died in 1822, Brazilian nuns still toil in the São Paulo monastery where Galvao is buried, preparing thousands of the tiny pills for free daily distribution. Each one carries these words: "After birth, the Virgin remained intact. Mother of God, intercede on our behalf."
After canonizing Friar Galvao, the pope embraced Sandra Grossi de Almeida, 37, and her son Enzo, 7. She is one of two Brazilian women certifed by the Vatican as divinely inspired miracles justifying the sainthood. She had a uterine malformation that should have made it impossible for her to carry a child for more than four months, but after taking the pills, she gave birth to Enzo.
"I have faith," Grossi recently told The Associated Press. "I believe in God, and the proof is right here."
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| Picture of the Week |
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The Pope Benedict XVI in Brazil.
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