Vatican City, Nov 20, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Thirteen Mexican martyrs were beatified Sunday in Guadalajara, Mexico--the latest in a recent string of Saints-to-be, pronounced by the Holy Father since his inauguration last spring.
Following his weekly Angelus prayer at the Vatican, Pope Benedict sent a special greeting to bishops, priests, religious and laity who had participated in the day’s event at Guadalajara’s Jalisco Stadium.
The beatification ceremony for the martyrs, killed during religious persecutions last century in Mexico, was presided at by Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins C.M.F., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
At the Vatican, Benedict announced the names of the martyrs: Anacleto Gonzalez Flores, and seven companions, Jose Trinidad Rangel, Andres Sola Molist, Leonardo Perez, Dario Acosta Zurita, and fourteen-year-old, Jose Sanchez del Rio. "They faced martyrdom in order to defend their Christian faith," he said.