Pope Francis on Oct. 15 has added 35 new saints to the Catholic Church.
Most of the new saints are said to be martyrs from past centuries. Francis called them "shining witnesses to the Gospel."
The development was announced by Francis in St Peter's Square, Vatican, as over 35,000 attendees had gathered to celebrate the Sunday Mass.
According to Times of India, among the newly announced saints, thirty of them were martyrs including priest and lay persons who suffered persecution in 1645 under Dutch Calvinists in Brazil.
Three of them were children between the age 12 and 13. They were indigenous persons in Mexico, martyred in the 1520s for refusing to renounce their faith and return to their native traditions.
The other two were a priest from Spain who died in 1900s and an Italian priest who died in 1739.
