Catholic World News

Waiving Vatican routines, Pope to declare sainthood of Peter Faber

December 17, 2013

Pope Francis will pronounce today that the 16th-century Jesuit priest Pierre Favre is a saint, the Associated Press reports.

Citing unnamed Vatican sources, AP reports that the Pontiff will waive the usual Vatican procedures to announce the canonization of the Blessed Pierre Favre, who was beatified in 1872.

Born in Francs in 1506, Pierre Favre—who is also known by the Anglicized form of his name, Peter Faber—attended the University of Paris, where he shared rooms with St. Francis Xavier, met St. Ignatius Loyola, and became a co-founder of the Jesuit order. He became famous as a preacher, primarily in Germany, and was instrumental in organizing the Catholic response to the Protestant Reformation. Summoned to attend the Council of Trent as an expert, he died in Rome in 1546.

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