Posted on 05/07/2015 9:28:40 AM PDT by marshmallow
Vatican City, May 6, 2015 / 04:24 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- During a private audience on Tuesday, Pope Francis advanced the causes of canonization of 12 potential saints, two of whom were martyred by communist revolutionaries in Laos in 1960.
The May 5 audience with Cardinal Angelo Amato also formally approved the canonization of Bl. Junipero Serra – which had already been scheduled for Sept. 23.
The two martyrs recognized were the Servants of God Mario Borzaga and Paul Thoj Xyooj, who were killed in hatred of the faith in April 1960.
Born in Italy in 1932, Fr. Borzaga joined the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate at the age of 20, and was ordained a priest at 25. In 1957 he was sent as one of the first Italian missionaries to the Oblate mission in Laos, where the Pathet Lao, communist revolutionaries backed by North Vietnam, had begun a civil war four years earlier.
Fr. Borzaga spent the first year of his missionary life studying the Lao language. His diary, “To be a Happy Man,” describes the difficulty of the mission, which was aggravated by the Pathet Lao.
After visiting the Christian community in the Hmong village of Kiucatiàm in 1958, where he met with families and cared for the sick. Another group of Hmong from Pha Xoua asked him to visit their own village in 1960.
He set out April 25 on a three day mountain trek for the village, where he was to spend two weeks. He was joined by Paul Thoj Xyooj, a young lay catechist. The two vanished after a day of working with the sick and were never found, despite various searches.
Testimonies gathered since their disappearance confirm that the two were killed by the Pathet Lao.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnewsagency.com ...
Perhaps this will catch on as a Confirmation name among young Hmong Catholics. I wonder how you pronounce "Xyooj."
“The May 5 audience with Cardinal Angelo Amato also formally approved the canonization of Bl. Junipero Serra – which had already been scheduled for Sept. 23”
IMHO, this was the most important part of the story.
I’ve read about Father Serra (and his efforts to build the California missions) and he is most worthy of canonization.
So the Christians being slaughtered by ISIS today get no recognition??
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.