From Catholic News Service

Cardinals beatify priests in India, Italy

By Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Thousands of people gathered at a parish church in southern India and in the square in front of the cathedral in Milan, Italy, April 30 for the beatification of three priests.

With Pope Benedict XVI signing beatification decrees but not presiding over the ceremonies, Father Augustine Thevarparampil could be beatified at St. Augustine Parish in Ramapuram, India, and Fathers Luigi Biraghi and Luigi Monza could be beatified in Milan.

Cardinal Varkey Vithayathil, head of India's Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, presided over the beatification of Father Thevarparampil, who spent about 40 years as an assistant pastor at St. Augustine Parish, focusing his ministry on the "dalit" people once considered untouchable in India's traditional caste system.

Cardinal Vithayathil said Blessed Thevarparampil, known as "Kunjachan," meaning small priest, "was not even 5 feet tall" and spent most of his life visiting the homes and workplaces of the dalits, preaching the Gospel, baptizing them and encouraging them in the faith.

Ordained to the priesthood in 1921, his work among the dalits was criticized not only by Hindus, but also by Christians, the cardinal said. Blessed Thevarparampil died in 1973 at the age of 82 and asked to be buried among the dalits.

Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi of Milan presided over the Mass for the beatification of the two Italian priests with some 20,000 people gathered in the large square in front of the Milan cathedral.

Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, read Pope Benedict's decree beatifying the two priests.

Blessed Monza, born in 1898, founded the Secular Institute of the Little Apostles of Charity, a group of consecrated women devoted to caring for disabled children. The institute continues to operate 36 "Our Family" centers for handicapped children.

Blessed Biraghi was born in 1801 and founded the Marcelline Sisters dedicated to educating children. He was head of the Milan Archdiocese's Ambrosian Library and was a scholar specializing in church history, Christian archaeology and theology.

In his homily, Cardinal Tettamanzi said the priests' example is "not only for individuals, but for our Christian communities and for society as a whole. Yes, we have a great need for many blessed and saints because their exemplary lives denounce the evil within us. But even more, they reawaken and fortify our longing for that which is truly good."

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