Pope Leo XIV spiritually joined yesterday, September 13, to the Mass of thanksgiving celebrated in Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris for the canonization of the 16 Carmelite martyrs of Compiègne. The Holy Father sent a telegram to the Archbishop of Paris, Mons. Laurent Ulrich, signed by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Vatican.
The Pontiff expressed his deep joy “in joining the joy of all the faithful” gathered in the French capital to honor the nuns who were guillotined during the French Revolution out of hatred for the faith.
Canonization approved by Francis
In December 2024, Pope Francis authorized the canonization of the Carmelites through the formula of “equivalent canonization.” This procedure, which involves papal infallibility, omits the solemn ceremony by being carried out through the promulgation of a papal bull.
Testimony that moved executioners and artists
In his telegram, Pope Leo XIV highlighted that the Carmelites of Compiègne “especially aroused the admiration of their own jailers and imprinted a beneficial shock in the most hardened minds and hearts, opening the way to the divine.”
The Pontiff also emphasized the abundance of literary and artistic works that, over the centuries, have immortalized their testimony, recalling that at the moment of their martyrdom “the crowd remained surprisingly silent.”
Faith, charity, and hope until the guillotine
Leo XIV defined the “peace of heart” of the martyrs as the fruit of immense charity sustained by theological faith and hope and stated that the nuns, far from being mere victims, were “authors of a supreme act of consecration, apparently stripped of everything, in reality they remained rich in their vows and in total surrender to God,” the Pope wrote in the telegram.
Forgiveness and hope amid martyrdom
The Pontiff particularly recalled the words of the prioress, the last to be executed, who smiled at the executioners and exclaimed: “How could we be angry with these poor unfortunates who open the doors of heaven to us?”
Before dying, she added: “I forgive you from the bottom of my heart, as I hope God forgives me.” For Leo XIV, this gesture summarizes the spiritual testament of the martyrs:
“Total offering, forgiveness and gratitude, joy and peace: these are the fruits of charity that flooded the souls of our nuns”.
The telegram concludes by conveying Leo XIV’s apostolic blessing to the pastors and faithful present in Notre-Dame, “without forgetting the many people who from farther away join this event that gladdens the entire Church.”