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Pope Francis has declared a blind 14th-century Italian lay Dominican a saint. Margaret of Castello was born blind, and with a severe curvature of her spine. Her parents abandoned her in 1303 at a Catholic shrine, where they had taken her in hopes of a miraculous cure. Later in life, she was admitted to the Third Order of Saint Dominic. She remained a laywoman, but she received a religious habit, which she wore for the rest of her life. She opened a small school, where she taught children the Catholic faith.She died in 1320 at the age of 33, and her tomb quickly became associated with miracles. Pope Francis used a process called equivalent canonization, which waives the requirement for a miracle attributed to the candidate’s intercession.
The bishop-elect for a diocese in South Sudan was shot several times on Sunday evening. Two armed men reportedly attacked the bishop-elect at his residence. He is reportedly recovering at a local health facility, and will soon be air-lifted to Nairobi to receive medical care. The priest was appointed bishop-elect for the Diocese of Rumbek back in March. The diocese had been without a bishop for almost a decade.
Pope Francis ordained nine men to the priesthood on Sunday. The pope gave a largely off-the-cuff homily, encouraging the men to be shepherds like Christ.He also urged the new priests to see themselves as collaborators with their bishops. The pope said this spirit of collaboration will protect unity in the local Church. The new priests came from three seminaries in the Diocese of Rome. Most were born in Italy, but three came from Romania, Colombia and Brazil.