March 13, 2024, marked the 12th anniversary of Pope Francis' election to the papacy. Over these years, he has called the faithful to embrace holiness in everyday life, showing that sainthood is possible. The Pope has recognized saints from all walks of life—martyrs, missionaries, families, and religious—who lived with faith, service, and sacrifice. 

“Let us not forget: Each one of us is called to holiness, to everyday holiness, to the holiness of the common Christian life. Each one of us has this calling.” 

On May 12, 2013, just two months into his papacy, Pope Francis celebrated the first canonizations of his papacy. He declared two Latin American religious sisters, Laura Montoya and María Guadalupe García Zavala, as saints, along with Antonio Primaldo and his 800 companions, martyred in the 1480 Ottoman invasion of Otranto, Italy. With this first ceremony alone, he set the course to become the pope who would canonize more saints than any other in history. 

In 2014, Pope Francis canonized two of his predecessors. Both left their own mark on the Church. One was John XXIII, who during his four-and-a-half-year pontificate convened the Second Vatican Council. Francis also canonized John Paul II who led the Church into the new millennium. 

In 2018, Francis canonized another of his predecessors, Pope Paul VI. 

During his visit to the US in 2015, Francis canonized Junípero Serra in Washington DC. The Spanish Franciscan priest came to what is now California in 1749, founded mission stations and spread the Gospel in America. 

In 2016, Pope Francis elevated the teenage José Sánchez del Río to the altars of the saints. José was a 14-year-old Mexican boy who, in 1928 during a civil war in Mexico, was captured and tortured. This conflict was between Catholic peasant militias and the government, which was anti-Catholic. Despite severe torture, José refused to abandon his Catholic faith. 

One woman whose deeds speak for themselves is Mother Teresa. The nun dedicated her life to the poorest of the poor in the slums of Calcutta. The order of "Missionaries of Charity" founded by her continues Mother Teresa's work. Pope Francis canonized her on September 4, 2016. 

As archbishop of San Salvador, Oscar Romero demanded social justice and opposed the military dictatorship of the time. Romero was shot by a death squad in 1980 while preaching in church. Pope Francis canonized him in 2018. 

One year later, the Holy Father canonized Cardinal John Henry Newman. Newman was a member of the Anglican Church of England. He converted to the Catholic Faith despite much hostility and became one of the greatest apologists for Catholicism in history. 

However, Pope Francis has not only recognized converts but also Christian martyrs from other churches as Catholic saints. In 2024, he added the 21 Coptic martyrs to the Roman Martyrology, the Church’s official list of saints, reaffirming the Church’s recognition of those who have given their lives for the faith. These martyrs—20 Egyptians and one Ghanaian—were brutally executed by ISIS in Libya in 2015. As Cardinal Kurt Koch, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, emphasized, this decision underscores Pope Francis' commitment to honoring the witness of all Christians who stand up for faith: 

“For Pope Francis, the most important thing was the direct encounter with the other Christian churches. “going together, praying together, working together”. That is one dimension. And the other dimension is the ecumenism of blood, which he strongly underlined. Pope Francis asked the question: If our enemies unite us in death – because the persecutors of Christians do not persecute Christians because they are Lutherans, Catholics or Orthodox, but because they are Christians – if our enemies unite us in death, how can we continue to divide ourselves?” 

On February 11, 2024, a momentous occasion took place as Pope Francis canonized the first Argentinian woman, María Antonia de Paz y Figueroa. She is also affectionately known as Mama Antula. 

“She travelled thousands of miles by foot, crossing deserts and dangerous roads, to bring God to others. Today, she is a model of fervor and apostolic courage,” the Pope said.  

To the great joy of Catholics worldwide, Pope Francis had paved the way for the canonization of two young Italian men. Both soon-to-be saints are beloved by many Catholic young people for their enthusiastic pursuit of holiness. 

Carlo Acutis, an Italian computer-coding teenager who died of cancer in 2006, is known for his great devotion to the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. 

Piergiorgio Frassati, who died at the age of 24 in 1925, is also beloved by many today for his enthusiastic witness to holiness that reaches “to the heights.”  The young man from the northern Italian city of Turin was an avid mountaineer and Third Order Dominican known for his charitable outreach. Piergiorgio Frassati died of polio, aged 24. His doctors later speculated that he had caught polio while serving the sick. 

The canonization of Carlo Acutis is planned for program of the Church’s Jubilee of Teenagers that will take place from April 25th to the 27th, 2025, and Piergiorgio Frassati’s canonization will take place during the Jubilee of Youth from July 28th to Aug. 3rd, 2025. 

Adapted by Jacob Stein 

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