Pope Francis advanced the sainthood causes of three women and recognized the martyrdom of 14 religious sisters who were killed during the Spanish Civil War.
The pope formally recognized a miracle needed for the canonization of Blessed Marguerite Bays, a laywoman from Switzerland known for her spirituality in the face of great physical suffering and for bearing the stigmata of Christ.
Born in 1815, she grew up helping the peasant farmers in her small village and became a professed member of the Secular Franciscan Order.
She was particularly devoted to Our Lady and discovered she was cured of colon cancer on Dec. 8,
