King Albert Watches Saint Ceremony

12 October 2009

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Belgium's King Albert II and Queen Paolo have attended a ceremony to see new saints canonised.

The royal couple attended the Vatican service at St. Peter's Basilica to represent Belgian-born Jozef Fe Veuster - more commonly known as Father Damien - who died of leprosy in 1889 after contracting the disease from patients he was working with on Hawaii's Molokai island.

Pope Benedict XVI said Father Damien and the other four new saints had "heeded Jesus' call to the heroism of sanctity, sacrificing themselves for others without calculation or personal gain."

an authentic Mother Teresa ahead of her time

He added: "Their perfection, in the logic of a faith that is humanly incomprehensible at times, consists in no longer placing themselves at the centre, but choosing to go against the flow and live according to the Gospel."

Among the 10,000 in attendance were US President Barack Obama Poland's president, France's prime minister and Spain's foreign minister.

Also canonised by the pope were French nun Jeanne Jugan - known as Marie de la Croix - who helped the elderly, including some abandoned by their families, until her death in 1879. She was hailed as "an authentic Mother Teresa ahead of her time".

19th Century Polish bishop Zygmunt Szczesny Felinski was made a saint for defending the Catholic faith during the years of the Russian annexation, which led to the shutdown of Polish churches.

Two Spaniards, Francisco Coll y Guitart and Rafael Arniaz Baron, were also raised to sainthood.

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