On Sunday 14th October, the new seven canonizations promoted by Pope Francis were celebrated in St. Peter’s Square, packed with some 70 thousand pilgrims and 30 official delegations, including that led by the Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta, Fra’ Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto. The Order now has a new saint: Paul VI . Pope Giovanni Battista Montini (1897-1978) was a member of the Sovereign Order of Malta: admitted in 1937, he was raised to the rank of Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion in 1958.

Speaking of Paul VI and his work, Pope Francis said that “he spent his life for Christ’s Gospel, crossing new boundaries and becoming its witness in proclamation and in dialogue, a prophet of a Church turned outwards, looking to those far away and taking care of the poor”.

At the start of the ceremony, when the delegations were received inside St. Peter’s Basilica, the Grand Master was able to greet Pope Francis and exchange a few words with him. During the Angelus, the pope once again thanked the official delegations of the many countries present, including the President of the Italian Republic and the Presidents of Chile, El Salvador and Panama.

Besides Paul VI, Pope Francis also canonized the Archbishop of San Salvador Oscar Arnulfo Romero (1917-1980), assassinated while celebrating mass, don Francesco Spinelli, founder of the Istituto delle Suore Adoratrici del Santissimo Sacramento, don Vincenzo Romano (1751-1831), Maria Caterina Kasper (1820-1898), founder of the Istituto delle Povere Ancelle di Gesù Cristo, Nazaria Ignazia di Santa Teresa di Gesù (1889-1943), founder of the Congregazione delle Suore Missionarie Crociate della Chiesa and the 19-year-old boy from Abruzzo, Nunzio Sulprizio (1817-1836).