While canonizations have slowed down noticeably in recent years, beatifications continue at a steady pace.
But unless you live in the country where a beatification is taking place, you are unlikely to hear of it until after the event. That’s a pity, as they are joyous celebrations of Catholic lives marked by inspiring faith and perseverance.
Four beatifications have already taken place so far in 2024:
Guy de Montpellier (1160-1208), the French founder of Hospitallers of the Holy Spirit and the Confraternity of the Holy Spirit, was declared blessed May 18 by Pope Francis. The pope used a rare procedure known as “equipollent beatification,” last employed in 2018 with the cause of Michał Giedroyć (c. 1420-1485).
Giuseppe Rossi (1912-1945), a bespectacled Italian small-town pastor who was kidnapped by fascists, forced dig his grave with his bare hands, and shot dead, was beatified May 26 in Novara Cathedral, northwest Italy.
Michał Rapacz (1904-1946), a Polish priest who survived World War II only to be murdered by a communist militia, was beatified June 15 at the Divine Mercy Sanctuary in Łagiewniki, southern Poland.
Estephan El Douaihy (1630-1704), the 17th-century leader of the Maronite Church, was beatified Aug. 2 at a ceremony attended by around 7,000 people in Bkerké, Lebanon. El Douaihy was a celebrated historian who attracted titles such as “The Second Chrysostom” and “Splendor of the Maronite Nation.”
Five more beatification ceremonies are due to be held in the remainder of this year. Here’s a quick guide to them.
1) The martyrs of Uvira
On Aug. 18, a beatification ceremony will take place in Uvira, a city in the turbulent eastern region of Democratic Republic of the Congo. Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, the Archbishop of Kinshasa, will represent Pope Francis.
That day, four martyrs will be declared blesseds:
Luigi Carrara (1933-1964), an Italian priest who entered the Xaverian Missionaries in 1947, made his perpetual profession in 1959, and was ordained to the priesthood in 1961. He was sent to Fizi, a territory in the east of the newly independent Congolese state, where he was caught in an uprising known as the Simba rebellion. The rebels falsely accused the Xaverian Missionaries of communicating their movements to government forces, leading to heavy defeats. They killed Fr. Carrara on Nov. 28, 1964, in the city of Baraka.
Giovanni Didoné (1930-1964) joined the Xaverian Missionaries in 1950, making his perpetual vows in 1954, and being ordained to the priesthood in 1958. A year later, he was sent to serve in the Diocese of Uvira in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, helping to build a church in Fizi. He was shot dead by a rebel leader on Nov. 28, 1964, a few steps from the church.
Vittorio Faccin (1934-1964) entered the Xaverians in 1950. He had wanted to be a priest, but struggled with his studies and opted to be a brother, making his first profession in 1952. After he was sent to the Diocese of Uvira in 1959, he looked forward to making his perpetual profession, accepting that he would not be a priest. “I long for this day to come soon to offer myself as a victim forever to Jesus for the salvation of souls,” he reflected. “In prayer, Jesus has made me understand that it is better for me to be the one sacrificed to Him than for Him to sacrifice Himself in my hands.” He was killed on Nov. 28, 1964, in Baraka.
Albert Joubert (1908-1964) was born in the colony of Belgian Congo to an African mother and a French father who had served in the Papal Zouaves before moving to Africa. He was ordained a priest in 1935, serving in parishes and schools until he was sent to Fizi, where he worked alongside Fr. Didoné. He too was murdered on Nov. 28, 1964.
2) Ján Havlík
Thousands of people will gather in the town of Šaštín, western Slovakia, on Aug. 31 for the beatification of Ján Havlík (1928-1965). Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, will preside at the ceremony.
Havlík was born in the country then known as Czechoslovakia and grew up amid the tumult of World War II. In 1943, he entered a minor seminary of the Congregation of the Mission (the Vincentians) in the city of Banská Bystrica.
In 1948, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia launched a coup, with Soviet support, and imposed totalitarian rule on the country. Havlík was arrested with other seminarians in October 1951 and tortured under interrogation. In February 1951, he was sentenced to 10 years in jail. In 1953, he was moved to a facility where he worked as a uranium miner.
“I feel like I am on a mission,” he told a friend. “No missionary could choose a better and more difficult mission site.”
After another trial in 1959, a year was added to his sentence. In 1960, he was transferred to a prison hospital due to failing health. He was finally released in October 1962, after completing an 11-year sentence that left him mentally and physically crushed.
He recorded his spiritual experiences in two notebooks, the “Diary” and “The Way of the Cross of Little Souls.” He died on Dec. 27, 1965, while walking to see a doctor.
3) Moisés Lira Serafín
On Sept. 14, Moisés Lira Serafín (1893-1950) will be beatified at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City. Cardinal Semeraro will preside at the ceremony.
Born in Zacatlán, a city in central Mexico, he entered a seminary in Puebla in 1914. He was ordained a priest and took perpetual vows with the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit in 1922.
He served as a novice master in Mexico City, where he was also known for his ministry to prisoners. Following the outbreak of the Cristero War in 1926, he helped to train acolytes and catechists.
A year later, he enrolled at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University to study biblical Greek.
In 1934, he founded the congregation of the Missionaries of Charity of Mary Immaculate, which has the charism of spiritual childhood, helping people to embrace their identity as children of God.
He died on June 25, 1950, in Mexico City, at the age of 56.
4) José Torres Padilla
On Nov. 9, Cardinal Semeraro will preside at the beatification of José Torres Padilla (1811-1878) in Spain’s Seville Cathedral.
Born in the Canary Islands to a middle-class family, José Torres Padilla lost both his parents in 1821. He was ordained a priest in 1836 and served as a theology professor at a seminary in Seville.
In the city, he gained a reputation for holiness. He was nicknamed “el santero,” or “the saint-maker,” because he served as the spiritual director of religious sisters known for their sanctity, including the future saint Angela of the Cross. With his guidance, she founded the Sisters of the Company of the Cross, dedicated to serving the poor.
In 1869, he attended the First Vatican Council as a theologian. On his return to Seville, he was named a cathedral canon. He died in the city on April 23, 1878.
5) Max Josef Metzger
On Nov. 17, the beatification of Max Josef Metzger (1887-1944) will take place at Freiburg Minster in southwest Germany. Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, will preside at the ceremony.
Metzger was born in Schopfheim, southwest Germany, and ordained a priest in 1911. When World War I broke out, he served as a military chaplain, but was discharged in 1915 after contracting pneumonia and pleurisy.
In 1919, after the war ended, he founded the German Catholics’ Peace Association, believing that “future wars have lost their meaning, since they no longer give anybody the prospect of winning more than he loses.” He spoke at international congresses, building a reputation as a leading pacifist, and edited the Esperanto-language magazine, Katolika Mondo (“Catholic World”).
After Adolf Hitler surged to power, Metzger was frequently arrested by the Gestapo. During one stay in prison, he wrote a letter to Pope Pius XII, appealing for an ecumenical council to be held in Assisi. He also wrote a memorandum outlining a vision for the German state beyond the horrors of the Third Reich.
He was arrested again in June 1943 and sentenced to death at a show trial. He was executed by guillotine at Brandenburg prison on April 17, 1944.
