Though Francis News Today

St. Francis Xavier is a patron saint of missionaries and missions and led an unlikely life of adventure and heroism.

5 . 6 . 21 May 1 brought back happy memories for devotees of St. John Paul II. On that date ten years ago, Benedict XVI beatified his predecessor in a St. Peter’s Square still echoing with the “ santo subito” chants of six years earlier. It was the last great beatification or canonization in Rome in the John Paul style of celebration—that of the massive international festivals that marked the elevations of Maximilian Kolbe, Edith Stein, Padre Pio, or Mother Teresa. Under Pope Francis, t...