VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis advanced the sainthood causes of four men and four women, including Blessed Dulce Lopes Pontes, the "Mother Teresa" of Brazil.

VATICAN – Pope Francis recognized the martyrdom of an Italian missionary killed in Myanmar and seven Romanian Catholic bishops – one of whom was secretly named a cardinal by St. Paul VI – persecuted during the communist era.

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated March 17, the day he died in 461.  In honour of one of the more celebrated saints, here are a few items that form part of the fact and legend of the patron saint of Ireland.

THRISSUR, India – For the nearly 2,000 sisters and 200 women in formation who make up the Congregation of the Holy Family, the long wait is over.

PEORIA, Ill. – Bishop Daniel R. Jenky of Peoria announced "with great joy" March 5 that the New York State Supreme Court's Appellate Division ruled 5-0 that the remains of Archbishop Fulton Sheen should be transferred from New York to the Peoria Diocese.

Elizabeth Seton: American Saint by Catherine O’Donnell (Cornell University Press, 552 pages, hardcover, $37.44 on Amazon.ca)

What if Catholic men are set apart from the rest of the men in the world?

VATICAN – Pope Francis has signed a decree recognizing a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed John Henry Newman, the English cardinal, clearing the way for his canonization.

Our collective annual engagement in gifts at Christmas-time has wound up for the year. Consumer Christmas can be frustrating and painful, but still it recognizes and develops in us the power of gift. 

ROME – The sainthood cause of Jesuit Father Pedro Arrupe was formally opened in Rome at the Basilica of St. John Lateran Feb. 5, the 28th anniversary of Father Arrupe's death.

VATICAN – Pope Francis advanced the sainthood causes of three women and recognized the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters who were killed during the Spanish Civil War.

VATICAN – The saints were Christians who were "crazy for concreteness," knowing that faith is not an idea, but a relationship with Jesus, which leads to actions that demonstrate love, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN – God sends his consolation to those in need of reassurance, even when they are facing death, Pope Francis said.

VATICAN – The lives of 19 religious men and women martyred during the Algerian civil war are a testament to God's plan of love and peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims, Pope Francis said.

WAAHINGTON – The human rights office for the Archdiocese of San Salvador is taking the country's judicial system to task, urging the prompt prosecution of those responsible in the assassination of St. Oscar Arnulfo Romero, calling for an end to "creative" excuses for not doing so.