The Church has 16 new saints! And they are French!

An equipollent canonization initiated in 2022

On Wednesday December 18, 2024, the Sovereign Pontiff, just a few days after a trip to Corsica, recognized by a decree from the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints the cult of the 16 new French saints. He thus extends to the entire Church the worship of Blessed Mother Thérèse of Saint-Augustin and her 15 other Carmelite companions.

Guillotined on July 17, 1794, during the Terror, on the site of the former Place du Trône (current Place de la Nation, in Paris), the Vatican formalizes their martyrdom in odium fidei (in hatred of the faith). These 16 nuns are now included in the Roman martyrology. This so-called “equipollent” canonization is an extremely rare procedure. Before Francis’ pontificate, only two cases had been recorded: Saint Albert the Great (died 1280) in 1931 and Saint Margaret of Hungary (died 1270) in 1943. The current head of the Church is accustomed to this procedure and applied it several times, notably in 2013, 2014, 2021 and finally in 2022 for the Compiégnoises. In these cases, no miracle is required, the procedure being based on a thorough examination of the virtues or martyrdom of the persons concerned, and preceding canonization by decree of the Holy Father.

The same day, Pope Francis, who celebrated his 88th birthday the day before, authorized the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to publish a decree recognizing the heroic virtues of Pierre Goursat (1914-1991). A French lay person dedicated to celibacy, he founded the Emmanuel Community in 1972, a flagship movement of charismatic renewal, and was one of its co-founders.