Jerusalem, May 23, 2024 / 17:11 pm
In Damascus, Syria, today, news that the 11 “Martyrs of Damascus” will be canonized was received with “emotion and hope,” according to Father Firas Lufti, guardian of the Franciscan convent of Bab-Touma in Damascus where the martyrdom occurred and where many relics of the martyrs are preserved.
During an audience with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, “the Supreme Pontiff approved the votes in favor cast during the ordinary session of the cardinal and bishop fathers for the canonization” of the martyrs, said the bulletin released by the Holy See Press Office on May 23.
The “Martyrs of Damascus” were murdered “out of hatred for the faith” in Damascus, Syria, some time during the night of July 9-10, 1860. The event took place during the persecution of Christians by Shia Druze, which spread from Lebanon to Syria and resulted in thousands of victims.
A Druze commando entered the Franciscan convent, located in the Christian quarter of Bab-Touma (St. Paul) in the Old City of Damascus, and massacred the friars: Manuel Ruiz, Carmelo Bolta, Nicanor Ascanio, Nicolás M. Alberca y Torres, Pedro Soler, Engelbert Kolland, Francisco Pinazo Peñalver, Juan S. Fernández, along with three laymen who were biological brothers — Francis, Abdel Mohti, and Raphaël Massabki.
Credit: Source link
