Vatican City (AsiaNews/CWN) – Pope Benedict XVI today presided over the first canonisation ceremony of his pontificate. The pontiff proclaimed five new saints:

Zygmunt Gorazdowski, Jozef Bilczewski; Gaetano Catanoso; Felice da Nicosia and Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga. John Paul II had approved the plans to canonise the five saints on 24 February last year, at a Public Consistory held in Rome, through a message read by the Secretary of State, Card. Angelo Sodano.

Zygmunt Gorazdowski (1845- 1920) was born on 1 November in Sanok in eastern Poland. He was ordained to the priesthood on 25 July 1871 in the archdiocese of Lviv, Ukraine. He founded the "house of voluntary work" for beggars, the "popular kitchen", the "house for the care of terminally ill and long-term convalescence", the College of St Josafat for poor students, the "house of the child Jesus" for girl mothers and neglected newborns. He was also active as press editor of newspapers, pedagogical and social articles, the text of catechism, and training journals. He founded the Sisters of St. Joseph for the poor and the sick, which continues to serve in 62 houses in Europe, Africa, and Brazil. Already in his lifetime, he was known as the "priest of beggars", the "father of the poor", and the "apostle of divine mercy of Leopoli". He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in a June 2002 ceremony in Ukraine.

Jozef Bilczewski (1860- 1923) was born on 26 April 1860 in Wilamowice, Poland and ordained priest for the Lviv archdiocese in Ukraine in 1884. He became the rector of the University of Lviv and the Latin-rite Archbishop of Lviv in 1900. He was an ardent proponent of Catholic social teaching, in the face of Bolshevik oppression. His pastoral work may be grasped by looking at his enormous programme of spiritual activities, his formation of the clergy, and organisation of the Catholic rite. He too was beatified by Pope John Paul II in a June 2002 ceremony in Ukraine.

Gaetano Catanoso (1879- 1963) was born on 4 February 1879 in Chorio in San Lorenzo. He was ordained on 20 September 1092 and was spiritual director to several religious institutions. He promoted and sustained many initiatives to encourage church vocations, stressing Eucharistic and Marian devotion. In 1953 he founded the Veronica Sisters of the Holy Countenance. He was beatified by Pope John Paul in May 1997.

Felice da Nicosia (1715- 1787) was born Giacomo Amoroso a Nicosia in 1715. He took the name Felice when he entered the Capuchin order at the age of 18. For 40 years, the Italian friar practiced his gift of healing, undertaking a travelling apostolate. Illiterate, he knew the science of charity and humility. Known and respected for his deep devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, he was beatified by Pope Leo XIII in February 1888.

Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga (1901- 1952) was born on 22 January 1901 in Vina del Mar, in Chile. He was ordained in Leuven in Belgium in 1933 after fully joining the Society of Jesus. He returned to Chile in 1936 where he gave life to a plan of housing for marginalised people, El Hogar de Cristo (The Focolare of Christ). He held that there should not be institutions but true homes for children, elderly, and dispossessed people. In 1947 he founded a Christian publishing house that produced works on the social teachings of the Church. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in October 1994.