Onomastics to celebrate today: the saints of Saturday, February 18

Good deeds, mortal sacrifices and even inexplicable events arising from an apparent divinity, are the reasons why different individuals were beatified and canonized by the Vatican to carry the name of saint.

Every day, marked on the calendar, commemorates the life and death of these beings, men and women, who dedicated their existence to the very Catholic Church that earned them the appointment.

This is the saints for Saturday, February 18.

In Toledo, in Hispania, Saint Eladio, who, after directing public affairs in the royal palace, was abbot of the monastery of Agali and, later elevated to the bishopric of Toledo, distinguished himself by examples of charity.

Along with this character there are other saints and martyrs who are also celebrated this Saturday, February 18, such as the following:

San Angilbert abbot

Saint Francis Regis Clet

Saint Sadoth and Companions

San Tarasio

St. Teotonius

Saint John Peter Néel and Companions

Blessed Gertrude (Catalina) Comensoli

Beato Guillermo Harrington

Blessed George Kaszyra

Blessed John of Fiesole Angelico

Canonization of the priest José Gabriel Brochero. (AFP)

The Catholic and Orthodox Church uses canonization to declare a deceased person as a saint who during his life made sacrifices or was related to a divine event in favor of the church.

This implies including the name of the person in the canon (list of recognized saints) and the permission of the Catholic Church is granted to venerate it, acknowledging its power before God.

During Christianity, people were recognized as saints without the need for a formal process; however, this changed in the Middle Ages. In the case of Catholicism, the Church must make an exhaustive investigation of the life of the person to be sanctified.

For the Catholic Church there are four ways to achieve the appointment: the path of heroic virtues; the path of martyrdom; that of exceptional causes, confirmed by an ancient cult and written sources; and the offer of life.

Canonization of the Mexican José Sánchez del Río. (Reuters)

Catholicism is one of the most widely practiced religions in the world. The most recent data from the Vatican -particularly from its Ecclesial Statistical Yearbook- indicates that there are more than 1,360 million Catholics in the world.

The American continent is where more Catholics prevail, with almost half of those registered by the Vatican, being more than a quarter located in South America.

In recent years, the Vatican has realized that the presence of Catholics has increased significantly on two continents: Asia -particularly the Middle East- and Africa.

In contrast, religious rates in Europe have been declining, while in Oceania they have remained stable.

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