Pope Francis today signed off on Sri Lanka's first saint, bending the Vatican's rules once again to bypass the usual requirement that a second miracle be confirmed.
Francis is expected to canonise the Rev. Giuseppe Baz, a 17th-century missionary, during his January visit to Sri Lanka.
Vaz was born in Goa, India, in 1651, but chose to work in Sri Lanka amid persecution of Catholics by Dutch colonial rulers, who were Calvinists. He is credited with having revived the Catholic faith in the country.
The Vatican today said that Francis approved a decision by the Vatican's saint-making office to canonise Vaz.
Usually, the Vatican must approve one miracle for beatification, and a second one for canonisation. The pope usually signs an official decree attesting to the miracles.
But Francis bent the rules in the case of Vaz, using the same process he applied to canonise St. John XXIII without a second miracle attributed to his intercession.
Francis has waived such rules on several occasions now, convinced that the faithful need more models of holiness and that saints like Pope John don't need the technical, time-consuming and costly process of miracle-confirmation to be offered up as saints.
Francis has also promised to give Asia more saints. During his recent visit to South Korea, he promised to speak to "my friend Angelo" the head of the Vatican's saint-making office after a young Cambodian complained her country had no homegrown saints.
