Pope announces canonizations, advances sainthood causes

Pope Francis formally announced six men and women would be made saints Nov. 23, the feast of Christ the King. He made the announcement Friday during a morning "ordinary public consistory," a meeting of cardinals and promoters of the sainthood causes that formally ends the sainthood process.

The same day, he advanced the sainthood causes of eight men and women, including Mother Magdalen Taylor -- an Anglican convert and British foundress of a religious order.

After signing the decrees in April recognizing the miracles needed for their canonizations, the pope announced before cardinals gathered that the new saints would be:

-- Kuriakose Elias Chavara, the Indian founder of the Carmelites of Mary Immaculate, a Syro-Malabar Catholic order.

-- Euphrasia Eluvathingal, an Indian Carmelite sister and member of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church.

-- Nicholas of Longobardi, an Italian friar of the Minim order.

-- Giovanni Antonio Farina, an Italian bishop of Vicenza and the founder of the Teaching Sisters of St. Dorothy.

-- Ludovico of Casoria, an Italian Franciscan priest who founded the Grey Franciscan Friars of Charity and the Grey Franciscan Sisters of St. Elizabeth.

-- Amato Ronconi, a 13th-century Italian lay Franciscan and founder of a hospice for the poor, which is now a home for the elderly in Rimini, Italy.

After the morning consistory, the pope then met privately with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes.

The pope signed decrees recognizing the miracles needed for the future beatifications of:

-- Louis-Edouard Cestac, a French priest who founded the Congregation of the Servants of Mary.

-- Irene Stefani, an Italian member of the Consolata Missionary Sisters, who assisted the wounded in Kenya and Tanzania during World War I. She died in Kenya in 1930.

The pope also recognized the heroic virtues of:

-- Mother Magdalen Taylor, then Frances Taylor, volunteered to join Florence Nightingale in helping wounded soldiers in Turkey during the Crimean War. An Anglican, she joined the Catholic Church while serving in the Crimea and later founded the Poor Servants of the Mother of God. She died in 1900.

-- Uberto Mori, an Italian engineer, professor and businessman, who also started a local television station for evangelizing. He died in 1989.

-- Maria Giuseppa Scandola, a member of the Comboni Missionary Sisters, who died in what is now South Sudan in 1903.

-- Luigi Savare, an Italian priest who worked with young people and died in 1949.

-- Eugenio Reffo, an Italian priest and co-founder of the Congregation of St. Joseph. He died in 1925.

-- Itala Mela, an Italian laywoman and Benedictine Oblate who died in 1957.