Montreal priest given sainthood

Brother André became the first Canadian-born male Catholic saint yesterday.

Thousands of Catholics poured into St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican yesterday to witness the canonization of five new saints, among them André Bessette. André founded St. Joseph’s Oratory in Montreal and is believed to have performed hundreds of healing miracles in the early 20th Century. Montreal’s Catholic community has been pressing for his canonization since his death in 1937. At that time, 1 million people attended his funeral, even though the entire population of Quebec was only 3 million. Five thousand Canadians were at the Vatican yesterday, and a larger ceremony is planned for Montreal’s Olympic Stadium on Oct. 30. Canada has ten other saints: Marguerite d’Youville, Marguerite Bourgeoys, and eight Jesuit missionaries killed in Huron-Iroquois wars in the 1640s