Pope Leo XIV on Sunday declared seven new saints, including a former Satanic priest who turned back to Christianity and became a strong defender of the Catholic faith.
Bells rang out across St. Peter’s Square as thousands of pilgrims from around the world gathered for the grand canonisation ceremony.
Among those honoured was Bartolo Longo, an Italian lawyer born in 1841 who once practiced Satanism before rediscovering his faith. After returning to Catholicism, he dedicated his life to promoting the Rosary of the Virgin Mary and founded the Pontifical Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary of Pompeii.
“Today we have before us seven witnesses of faith who, with God’s grace, kept the lamp of faith burning,” Pope Leo told the estimated 70,000 worshippers gathered in the square. “May their intercession help us in our trials and inspire us in our shared call to holiness.”
Large portraits of the seven new saints hung from the windows of St. Peter’s Basilica as the Pope, dressed in white robes and a golden mitre, led the service. Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, read out their life stories before Pope Leo officially proclaimed them saints.
This was Pope Leo’s second canonisation ceremony since becoming head of the Catholic Church in May 2025. Last month, he also declared Carlo Acutis, the teenage “God’s Influencer,” and Pier Giorgio Frassati, known for his acts of charity, as saints.
The Seven New Saints
1. Bartolo Longo (Italy) – A former Satanic priest who converted and dedicated his life to prayer and charity, founding the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii.
2. Peter To Rot (Papua New Guinea) – A lay catechist killed for his faith during the Japanese occupation in World War II.
3. Ignazio Choukrallah Maloyan (Armenia) – An archbishop martyred during the 1915 Armenian genocide.
4. Jose Gregorio Hernandez Cisneros (Venezuela) – Known as the “doctor of the poor,” he devoted his life to serving the sick and the poor before his death in 1919.
5. Maria Carmen Rendiles Martinez (Venezuela) – Born without a left arm, she overcame her disability to found the Congregation of the Servants of Jesus, becoming Venezuela’s first female saint.
6. Vincenza Maria Poloni (Italy) – Founder of the Institute of the Sisters of Mercy of Verona, devoted to caring for the sick in hospitals.
7. Maria Troncatti (Italy/Ecuador) – A missionary nun who spent decades helping and educating indigenous communities in Ecuador.
After the mass, Pope Leo travelled through St. Peter’s Square in his popemobile, blessing babies and greeting well-wishers as he made his way down the Via della Conciliazione, the grand road linking the Vatican to Rome.
The canonisation ceremony marks the final step toward sainthood in the Catholic Church, following beatification. Each new saint must have performed at least two miracles and lived an exemplary Christian life.
The Vatican described the new saints as “martyrs, missionaries, and benefactors of humanity”, whose lives continue to inspire millions around the world.
