Bible - Cardinals - Churches - Monks - Nuns
Apr. 18, 1955 - The Pope Beatifies Catholic Martyrs Who Were Slain In The Boxer Rebellion of 1900. Pope Pius XII prayed before a Chinese Madonna in the Basilica of St. Peter's, during the beatifying of four French Jesuit Fathers and fifty two Chinese Catholics slain in the 1900 Boxer Rebellion, who preferred death to the denial of their faith. The custom is for the Pope to venerate a relic of the blessed, but in this case there are no relics of the Jesuits and their flock, and instead the Chinese Madonna was presented. Beatification is the next step towards eventual Sainthood. Keystone Photo Shows:- Pope Pius XII blesses the crowd inside St. Peter's as he is carried into the Basilica on his golden gestatorial chair surrounded by the Noble guards, and Swiss guards in red and yellow medieval uniforms and flanked by Palatine Gendarmes, and high Papal officials
