What the 9 New Saints Teach Us About Living the Catholic Faith.

Port Moresby: On the 7^th of September 2025 , the Catholic Church through the Canonization of St. Carlo Acutis and St.Pier Giorgio Frassati recognized them as Saints. A month later on October 19th , seven (7) new Saints were also canonized by Pope Leo XIV at the St. Peter's Square at the Vatican in Rome.

Among the seven (7) Saints canonized was a Papua New Guinean, St. Peter To Rot. The year 2025 is about to end and this is a testament for Catholic Faithfuls and Christians to stand strong in our individual faith and learn from the lives of these nine newly canonized Saints as we welcome the new year.

St. Carlos Acutis –St. Carlo Acutis was an English-born Italian Catholic teenager known for his devotion to the Eucharist and his use of digital media to promote Catholic devotion. St. Carlos teaches us to use our gifts and talents for the evangelization of others.

The main website created by St.Carlo Acutis is a catalog of Eucharistic miracles at miracolieucaristici.org, which includes a virtual museum, a map, and information in many languages. Other websites related to him include carloacutis.com, which hosts information about his life and allows for prayer requests. 

Through St. Carlo's life , may we be reminded that technology can be used for the evangelization of God's people.

The nine Saints that were canonized this year by Pope Leo XIV.

St. Pier Giorgio Frassati – St. Pier Giorgio Frassati was an Italian Catholic activist and a member of the Third Order of Saint Dominic. He was dedicated to social justice issues and joined several charitable organizations, including Catholic Action and the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, to better aid the poor and less fortunate living in his hometown of Turin.

Through the life of St. Pier , we see a Catholic faithful who dedicated his life to Social Justice of people who are silenced or who have been met with adversary and cannot speak freely. As Christians , many times we see injustice and choose not to intervene or do anything because we see the injustice as not our problem.

However as we learn more about the ordinary people who went out of their way to make extraordinary things with their lives, let us be like St. Pier Giorgio and be Social Justice Warriors of people in our community.

St. Maria Troncatti – St. Maria Troncatti was an Italian Catholic member of the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco. St. Maria Troncatti was from a farming family and entered that congregation in 1907; she worked as a nurse during World War I and became part of the missions in Ecuador from 1922 until she died in a plane crash in 1969.

In her life’s mission we see a faithful servant of God who did mission work until her passing. In today’s world we are constantly bombarded with outside interference, and most times don’t follow the path that Jesus has laid out for us to follow. Our life as Jesus asks of us is to be in service to others , who are less fortunate, to show God's undying love to our friends, family and enemies.

St. Vincenza Maria Poloni - St. Vincenza lived her life with a mission to serve others . She had admirable zeal and made it her mission to visit all the sick and orphaned. She consoled and helped the poor, showing them the love of Christ. She worked with the poor and said of them: "The poor are our masters."

She is also the Patron of the Sisters of Mercy. In her mission life , let us reflect on her life of service and faith to God and her love for others.

St.Peter To Rot –  St. Peter To Rot , first Pacific Islander and Papua New Guinean to be recognized as a Saint on the 19^th of October 2025. He was first beatified by Pope John Paul II on the 17^th of January 1995. St. Peter To Rot embodied the full Catholic Faith, staying true to faith and sharing God's word and in the time of World War II that engulfed the Island of New Guinea and the Japanese occupation , he chose to remain in his faith.

As a lay catechist in Papua New Guinea, he publicly and repeatedly spoke out against polygamy, which was being legalized to gain local support. His steadfast refusal to compromise his beliefs led to his arrest and murder by lethal injection in 1945.

The sacrament of marriage is a lifelong covenant between a man and a woman that is recognized in Christian churches, especially the Catholic Church, as a holy and permanent bond instituted by Christ.

As a fellow Papua New Guinean , let us all reflect on his life's mission of upholding the Sacrament of Matrimony and administering to couples.

St. Peter To Rot, the Pacific's and Papua New Guinea's first Saint.

St. Ignatius Choukrallah Maloyan- An Armenian Catholic prelate who was martyred for his faith. Imagine living in a time , where you will be persecuted for your faith, for living a life of virtue. This is what happened to St. Ignatius in the time of the Ottoman Empire.

Archbishop Ignatius Maloyan, who died a martyr when he was 46, reminds us of every Christian's spiritual combat, whose faith is exposed to the attacks of evil.

It is in the Eucharist that he drew, day by day, the force necessary to accomplish his priestly ministry with generosity and passion, dedicating himself to preaching, to a pastoral life connected with the celebration of the sacraments and to the service of the neediest.

Throughout his existence, he fully lived the words of St Paul: "God has not given us a spirit of fear but a spirit of courage, of love and self control" (II Tim 1,14. 7). Before the dangers of persecution, St. Ignatius did not accept any compromise, declaring to those who were putting pressure on him, "It does not please God that I should deny Jesus my Saviour.

 To shed my blood for my faith is the strongest desire of my heart".

May his example enlighten all those who today wish to be witnesses of the Gospel for the glory of God and for the salvation of their neighbor.

St José Gregorio Hernández–   A Venezuelan doctor and a renowned healer. During his practice of medicine, Hernández treated the poor for free and even bought them medicines with his own money. St. José was also in pursuit of joining the priesthood and explored

his religious vocation as a hermit of the Carthusian Order sadly due to his poor health he couldn't join. This didn't stop him from administering to the sick, but rather made him determined to be of service through his role as a physician.

This reminds us to use our gifts to be in service to others as St. José  has done. By helping others and administering to them when they are sick , we are reminded of God's care.

As Doctors , Nurses and caregivers we are reminded to use our gifts, serving others with compassion, and working with dedication which reflects God's love and fulfill a divine mission of healing and care.

St. Carmen Rendiles- A Venezuelan religious Sister of the congregation of the

Servants of the Eucharist who founded the Servants of Jesus of Caracas.

St.Carmen joined the Servants of the Eucharist on 25 February 1927 and made her

first vows on 8 September 1929 and her perpetual vows on 8 September 1932. In

1945, she was made the Superior General for the congregation.

Through St. Carmen life, we learn how to listen to our calling, to follow Christ in

serving him fully, to walk with him completely in our life's journey, and follow our

vocation. Many Christians’ steps have been faltered and misled along the way, but we see St. Carmen as model for us to be steadfast and be reminded that God is always there by our side on this life journey.

St. Bartolo Longo - St. Bartolo Longo lived a life far from being a faithful servant of the Church and God. He was a lawyer and at one point in his life he was the head priest of a Satanic Church!

But God had other plans for him , he renounced his standing in the Satanic Church and was a true missionary of the Rosary and a great promoter of the Marian devotion. He is also a heavenly patron for those whose hearts have been broken by loss and whose minds have been misled by falsehoods.

St. Bartolo shows to us Catholic followers that we can be misled right off the path , but through God and knowing about God's undying love he has for us , we can be assured that it is never too late to renounce our sinful ways and return to him. As the Prodigal son that left and returned to a fanfare welcome by his father , our Father in Heaven will always welcome us back into his heart.