Pope Leo XIV approves new decrees recognizing martyrdom, heroic virtues, and the offering of life of 54 Servants of God, including Spanish missionary Pedro Manuel Salado Alba.
Newsroom (27/04/2026 Gaudium Press )Pope Leo XIV has authorized the promulgation of new decrees advancing the causes of canonization for 54 Servants of God, recognizing their martyrdom, heroic virtues, and acts of self-sacrifice. The decision came during an audience with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.
Among those recognized is Spanish missionary Pedro Manuel Salado Alba, whose death in 2012 in Ecuador has been officially acknowledged by the Church as an “offering of life.” Born in 1968 in Chiclana de la Frontera, Cádiz, Salado Alba consecrated himself at the age of 22 to the Hogar de Nazaret, a lay institution of consecrated life founded in Córdoba.
After years of missionary work in Spain, he was sent to Ecuador, where he dedicated himself to serving children from impoverished backgrounds. In Quinindé, in the province of Esmeraldas, he directed a home and the Sacred Family of Nazareth School, focusing especially on education and care for vulnerable youth.
On February 5, 2012, during a recreational outing, a powerful rip current pulled seven children under the mission’s care out to sea. Witnesses report that Salado Alba entered the water without hesitation, rescuing the children one by one. After successfully saving all seven, he succumbed to exhaustion and the force of the currents, losing his life.
The Pope also approved the recognition of martyrdom for Stanislao Ortega García, known in religion as Lorenzo, along with 48 fellow religious from the Institute of the Brothers of Christian Instruction of Saint Gabriel, and diocesan priest Emanuele Berenguer Clusella. The group, totaling 50 martyrs, was killed between July and November 1936 in various parts of Catalonia during the early months of the Spanish Civil War. Their deaths occurred “in hatred of the faith,” amid widespread religious persecution.
In addition, Pope Leo XIV recognized the heroic virtues of three Servants of God whose lives spanned different centuries and continents. Maria Eletta of Jesus, born Caterina Tramazzoli (1605–1663), was a Discalced Carmelite and a central figure in the expansion of her order in Central Europe. Maria Teresa of the Most Holy Trinity, born Teresa Ysseldijk (1897–1926), was a Carmelite nun whose missionary zeal led her to the United States in 1919, where she later died after years of illness. Maria Raffaella De Giovanna (1870–1933), founder of the Tertiary Minim Sisters of Saint Francis of Paola in Genoa, was also recognized for her exemplary Christian life.
The promulgation of these decrees marks a significant step forward in the canonization process for each of these individuals, bringing them closer to potential beatification or sainthood within the Catholic Church.
- Raju Hasmukh with files from Vatican News and ACI Prensa
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