Pope Francis on Monday received a
visit from Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin,
and the Substitute for General Affairs Mons. Edgar Pena Parra at
Rome's Agostino Gemelli Hospital, the Vatican press office said
in a bulletin on Tuesday.
During the audience granted to Cardinal Parolin and Archbishop
Pena Parra, the pontiff decided that Salvo D'Acquisto could soon
be beatified.
"Yesterday, during an audience granted to Cardinal Secretary of
State Pietro Parolin, and Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra,
Substitute for General Affairs, Pope Francis authorized the
Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to promulgate various Decrees
concerning those on the path to sainthood", the Vatican said.
Among them was the Decree concerning the "offering of life" of
the "Servant of God Salvo D'Acquisto, lay faithful, born in
Naples on 15 October 1920, and died in Palidoro, Italy, on 23
September 1943.
The Servant of God was a member of the Italian Carabinieri
during the Second World War".
The category of "offering of life" is "a new cause for the
beatification and canonization procedure, distinct from the
causes based on martyrdom and on the heroism of virtues."
This cause was introduced by Pope Francis in 2017 to recognize
as saints "those Christians who, following more than closely the
footsteps and teachings of the Lord Jesus, have voluntarily and
freely offered their life for others and persevered with this
determination unto death".
On Monday evening, Cardinal Parolin led a rosary prayer in St
Peter's Square for the pontiff.
Rosary prayers will be recited every evening in St Peter's
Square.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Pro-Prefect for the Dicastery for
Evangelization, will lead the prayer on Tuesday night starting
at 9 pm.
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