Vatican City:
Pope Francis has given the Catholic church hundreds of new saints as he leads a canonisation ceremony in St Peter's Square.
Among those upon whom he bestowed the church's highest honour today are 813 Italians who were martyred in the late 15th century for refusing to convert to Islam as demanded by Turkish invaders of a southern Italian city.
Two others were canonised, a woman who helped Colombia's indigenous peoples and is now that country's first saint, and a Mexican woman who helped Catholics avoid persecution during a government crackdown of the faith in the 1920s.
The new saints were all approved for canonisation in a decree read by Pope Benedict XVI on February 11 during the same ceremony in which he announced he was resigning as pontiff.
Among those upon whom he bestowed the church's highest honour today are 813 Italians who were martyred in the late 15th century for refusing to convert to Islam as demanded by Turkish invaders of a southern Italian city.
Two others were canonised, a woman who helped Colombia's indigenous peoples and is now that country's first saint, and a Mexican woman who helped Catholics avoid persecution during a government crackdown of the faith in the 1920s.
The new saints were all approved for canonisation in a decree read by Pope Benedict XVI on February 11 during the same ceremony in which he announced he was resigning as pontiff.
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