The Pope has commended the "lives of sacrifice, missionary zeal, and service to the Church" of 14 newly canonized saints.

Pope Francis created a new group of saints on Sunday, canonizing 14 individuals including the "martyrs of Damascus," killed in Syria during the Ottoman Empire.

In a Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 20, the pope declared three nineteenth-century founders of religious orders and the eleven “Martyrs of Damascus” as saints to be venerated by the global Catholic Church.

Pope Francis created a new group of saints on Sunday, canonising 14 individuals including the "martyrs of Damascus", killed in Syria during the Ottoman Empire and symbols of Christian persecution.Francis presided over the canonisation ceremony in Saint Peter's Square in the presence of thousands of Catholic faithful from around the world.

In his famous work, “Anonymous Christianity,” the great Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner claims that the benefits of Christ’s redemptive sacrifice are not confined to the boundaries of any particular religious tradition or by our awareness or acceptance of Christian doctrine.