Eight Franciscans and the three Maronite Massabki brothers were murdered in 1860 out of hatred for the faith in the Bab-Touma neighborhood. Symbolic figures of “blood ecumenism” that Christians in the Middle East have also experienced in recent times. Other decrees approved by Pope Francis that pave the way for canonization concern fifteen-year-old Carlo Acutis and the founder of the Consolata missionaries, Giuseppe Allamano.
Vatican City () – The martyrs of Damascus, 8 Franciscans and three Maronite laymen murdered out of hatred for the faith in 1860, will be proclaimed saints. Pope Francis approved the favorable votes expressed by the cardinals and bishops of the Dicastery for the causes of the saints for the canonization of Blessed Emanuele Ruiz and seven companions of the Order of Friars Minor, and of the brothers Francisco, Abdel Mooti and Rafael Massabki, murdered out of hatred for the faith in a wave of violence, for political reasons, of the Druze against the Christians in the then Ottoman city.
The pontiff announced his intention to convene an ordinary consistory about this canonization and that of four other blesseds, among them the Italian priest Giuseppe Allamano (1851-1926) – founder of the institute of Consolata missionaries – who are also present in some Asian countries – and Carlo Acutis (1991-2006) – fifteen years old, a student with a strong Eucharistic imprint but also passionate about new technologies, which is why he is considered particularly close to today’s young people – to whom Pope Francis has recognized two miracles that occurred through his intercession.
The canonization of the martyrs of Damascus was a long-awaited gift for Christians in the Middle East. Indeed, his story summarizes many of his sufferings. The Franciscan friars (seven Spaniards and one Austrian) lived in the Bab-Touma neighborhood, where they shared bread with the poor in a very difficult time. In the context of the crisis of the Ottoman Empire and pressure from European powers in December 1842, the then Sultan Abdul Mejid I had accepted the proposal of the Austrian prince Metternich to divide Mount Lebanon into two districts: one in the north for the Christians and one to the south for the Druze. But some violent reactions that broke out in Beirut in 1860 precipitated the situation, unleashing a wave of blood in which thousands of Christians died throughout the region.
On the night of July 9 to 10, 1860, the friars and the three Massabki Maronite brothers took refuge within the solid walls of the convent. The guardian father Emanuel Ruiz had prepared the brothers for the worst, inviting them to confess and take communion. And sure enough, someone betrayed them and allowed the murderers to enter the complex through a small door. They were beatified by Pope Pius XI in 1926 and their liturgical feast is celebrated on July 10 in the church of Saint Paul, where their remains are kept in Damascus.
Its history is also a testimony of that ecumenism of the martyrs that, throughout history, many Christian communities in the Middle East have lived together, which, despite being divided for historical reasons into different rites, have borne witness together to the same faith. in Jesus Christ until he gave his life, even in very recent times. In this sense, the canonization of the martyrs of Damascus will also be very significant in light of the imminent Jubilee of 2025, in whose convocation bull “Spes non confundit” Pope Francis says: “We need to preserve the testimony of the martyrs to make our hope. These martyrs, belonging to the various Christian traditions, are also seeds of unity because they express the ecumenism of blood.”
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