Pope Francis canonizes one of the earliest Jesuits Blessed Peter Faber

Pope Francis signed a decree canonizing one of the earliest Jesuits Blessed Peter Faber (1506-1546) at an audience with the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato. A Frenchman, he was a founding member of the Society of Jesus and the first of St Ignatius Loyola’s fledgling company to be ordained a priest. He was born into a poor family, near Savoy, France, on April 13, 1506. An ardent student, he eventually studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he shared a room with Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier.

Peter was ordained to the priesthood in July 1534 and, one month later, celebrated the mass on 15 August, during which Ignatius’ first seven companions took vows. He taught Scripture at the Sapienza University in Rome, where he often argued against Lutheran doctrine. In 1541, he participated at a colloquy, which took place in Worms, Germany and later at the Colloquy of Ratisbon (Regensburg), both attempts to restore Christian unity after the Protestant reformation by theological discussion.

He also travelled for several years through Europe, preaching in Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and Portugal, before being called to Madrid to participate as a theologian at the Council of Trent. However, on his way, he got gravely ill and died in Rome, on 1 August 1546, at the age of 40. His relics are kept at the Church of the Gesu, the Jesuits' mother church in Rome. His feast has been kept August 02, the anniversary of his death, by the Society of Jesus, and he was beatified in 1872 by Pope Pius IX.

During the audience, Pope Francis also authorized the Congregation to promulgate several decrees concerning various causes for sainthood. The Congregation recognized a miracle attributed to the Venerable Servant of God Miriam Teresa Demjanovich (1901-1927), a professed Sister of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth. She lived her entire life in New Jersey in the United States.

Decrees were also issued regarding the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Emanuele Herranz Establés (1880-1968), a diocesan priest in Spain and the founder of a female religious order, the Esclavas de la Virgen Dolorosa and of the Servant of God George Ciesielski (1929-1970), a Polish layman and father of a family.

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