Pope canonizes 1st Brazilian-born saint By VICTOR SIMPSON, Associated Press Writer
11 minutes ago



Pope Benedict XVI canonized an 18th-century Franciscan monk as Brazil's first native-born saint Friday, as hundreds of thousands cheered and waved flags from all corners of South America.

Sitting on a throne of Brazilian hardwood and surrounded by Latin American bishops and choirs of hundreds, Benedict pronounced the sainthood of Antonio de Sant'Anna Galvao, an 18th-century Franciscan monk who is credited by the church with 5,000 miracle cures.

The canonization makes Galvao the first native-born saint from the world's largest Roman Catholic country, home to more than 120 million of the planet's 1.1 billion Catholics.

"Do you realize how big this is?" asked Herminia Fernandes, who joined the multitude that jammed an airfield for the open-air Mass. "It's huge, this pope is visiting Brazil for the first time and at the same time he is giving us a saint. It's a blessing

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