Pope approves Joseph Vaz as Lanka's 1st saint

17 September 2014 02:50 pm

Pope Francis has approved the decision by the Vatican's saint-making office to canonize the Indian born Rev. Joseph Vaz as Sri Lanka's first saint, foreign media reported.

Pope Francis has approved the decision by the Vatican's saint-making office to canonize the Indian born Rev. Joseph Vaz as Sri Lanka's first saint, foreign media reported.

Francis is expected to canonize Rev. Joseph Vaz during his visit to Sri Lanka in January.

Media reports said that the Pope had bent Vatican rules to bypass confirmation of a miracle.

The process was the same Francis used to canonize St. John XXIII without a second miracle attributed to his intercession.

Francis has waived Vatican saint-making rules on several occasions and has promised to give more saints to Asia.