FRANCIS CANONIZES THE MARTYRS OF OTRANTO

More than 60,000 of the faithful packed into St. Peter's Square on Sunday to witness Pope Francis canonize 815 new saints.  All but two of them were martyred in the 15th Century by Ottoman Turks for refusing to renounce Christianity and convert to Islam.

The first pontiff from South America also gave Colombia its first saint: a nun who toiled as a teacher and spiritual guide to indigenous people in the 20th century.

With Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos among the VIPS, the Argentine pope held out Laura of St. Catherine of Siena Montoya y Upegui as a potential source of inspiration to the country's peace process, attempted after decades-long conflict between rebels and government forces.

Francis prayed that "Colombia's beloved children continue to work for peace and just development of the country."

He also canonized another Latin American woman. Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala, a Mexican who dedicated herself to nursing the sick, helped Catholics avoid persecution during a government crackdown of the faith in the 1920s.

Also known as Mother Lupita, she hid the Guadalajara archbishop in an eye clinic for more than a year after fearful local Catholic families refused to shelter him.

Francis prayed that the new Mexican saint's intercession could help the nation "eradicate all the violence and insecurity," an apparent reference to years of bloodshed and other crime largely linked to powerful drug trafficking clans.

Francis told the crowd that the martyrs are a source of inspiration, especially for "so many Christians, who, right in these times and in so many parts of the world, still suffer violence." He prayed that they receive "the courage of loyalty and to respond to evil with good."

On August 14, 1480, a massacre was carried out on a hill just outside the city of Otranto, in southern Italy. More than 800 of the city's male inhabitants were taken to a place called the Hill of the Minerva, and, one by one, beheaded in full view of their fellow prisoners. The spot forever after became known as the Hill of the Martyrs.

The victims on the Hill of the Minerva were put to death not because they were political enemies of a conquering army, nor even because they refused to surrender their city. They died because they refused to convert to Islam. The men of Otranto were martyrs, the first victims of what was intended to be the conquest of Italy by the armies of Sultan Mehmed II el-Fatih ("the Conqueror"). Because of their sacrifice, however, the Ottoman invasion was slowed and Rome was ultimately spared the same fate that had befallen most of the Balkans in the 27 years since Constantinople had fallen to Mehmed II's forces in 1453.  

The skulls and other relics of the martyrs currently adorn the walls around the altar of Otranto Cathedral as a memorial to their sacrifice. Popular tradition holds that when the soldiers beheaded Blessed Antonio Primaldo, a tailor and spokesman for the men of Otranto, his body remained standing even as the Muslim executioners tried to push him over. Legend has it that the decapitated man stood until the very last prisoner was killed, at which point Primaldo’s body collapsed next to his dead comrades.

In 1771, the Church recognized the validity of the local veneration of Primaldo and his companions and allowed them to be called Blessed. In 2007, retired Pope Benedict XVI formally recognized their martyrdom and, in 2012, he recognized a miracle attributed to their intercession. Martyrs do not need a miracle attributed to their intercession in order to be beatified. However, miracles must be recognized by the Vatican in order for them to become saints.

The miracle involved the late-Poor Clare Sister Francesca Levote. She was suffering from a serious form of cancer but was healed after a pilgrimage to pray before the martyrs’ relics in Otranto in 1980, a few months before Pope John Paul’s visit in October. She died in February 2012 at the age of 85.

Centuries later, Christians in Asia and Africa are still being slaughtered by Muslims simply because they are Christian.  The canonization of the Martyrs of Otranto won't change that.  In fact, it's entirely likely that Christians somewhere in the world will suffer the same fate because of this.  However, the recognition of what happened in 1480 will help shine a light on today's persecutions of Christian minorities in Muslim countries. Raising awareness of the most extreme human rights violations is a necessary step in the long journey towards ending them once and for all.   

Reliquary of the Martyrs of Otranto