Pope Francis canonized hundreds yesterday

The 800 martyrs of Otranto, plus two women religious; one from Mexico, and the first Saint from Columbia.

Pope Francis on Sunday gave the Catholic church new saints, including hundreds of 15th-century martyrs who were beheaded for refusing to convert to Islam, as he led his first canonization ceremony Sunday in a packed St. Peter's Square.

The
"Martyrs of Otranto" were 813 Italians who were slain in the southern
Italian city in 1480 for defying demands by Turkish invaders who overran
the citadel to renounce Christianity.

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The
first pontiff from South America also gave Colombia its first saint: a
nun who toiled as a teacher and spiritual guide to indigenous people in
the 20th century.

With Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos among the VIPS, the
Argentine pope held out Laura of St. Catherine of Siena Montoya y Upegui
as a potential source of inspiration to the country's peace process,
attempted after decades-long conflict between rebels and government
forces.

Francis prayed that "Colombia's beloved children continue to work for peace and just development of the country."

He also canonized another Latin American woman. Maria Guadalupe Garcia
Zavala, a Mexican who dedicated herself to nursing the sick, helped
Catholics avoid persecution during a government crackdown of the faith
in the 1920s.