The Catholic Church gained two new saints as Pope Francis canonized St. Artemide Zatti and St. Giovanni Battista Scalabrini on Sunday, 9 October, 2022.

The Catholic News Agency [CAN] reports that on Sunday, 9^th October, 2022, the Catholic Church gained two new saints as Pope Francis canonized St. Artemide Zatti and St. Giovanni Battista Scalabrini.

And with his pastoral staff in hand, Pope Francis proclaimed in Latin: “For the honor of the Blessed Trinity, the exaltation of the Catholic faith and the increase of Christian life, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and our own, after due deliberation and frequent prayer for divine assistance, and having sought the counsel of many of our brother bishops, we declare and define Blessed Giovanni Battista Scalabrini and Artemide Zatti to be Saints and we enroll them among the Saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole Church.”

The two saints, the Catholic News Agency reported,  “were both born in Italy in the 19th century and ministered to others amid the massive emigration of hundreds of thousands of Italians each year at the turn of the 20th century. Scalabrini is known for founding a missionary order that ministered to immigrants, while Zatti was himself an immigrant, leaving Italy for Argentina with his family in 1897 at the age of 16.” In his remark Pope Francis said that two new saints can intercede and “help us to walk together, without walls of division; and to cultivate that nobility of soul, so pleasing to God, which is gratitude.”

St. Giovanni Battista Scalabrini (1839–1905)

St. Scalabrini came from the Italian region of Lombardy and was ordained a priest in 1863 and became the bishop of Piacenza at the age of 36. Among other things he founded the Missionaries of St. Charles Borromeo, called the Scalabrinians. He was passionate about the care for immigrants and dedicated an association called aint Raphael Association for the care of immigrants in the 20^th century.

The pope said of this bishop:  “the Italian bishop had “great vision” and “looked forward to a world and a Church without barriers, where no one was a foreigner.”

St. Artemide Zatti (1880–1951)

St. Artemide Zatti

Pope Francis described Saint  Zatti as “a living example of gratitude”, one who thanked God by “taking upon himself the wounds of others.” Pope continued:

“Cured of tuberculosis, he devoted his entire life to serving others, caring for the infirm with tender love. He was said to have carried on his shoulders the dead body of one of his patients.”