Pope Francis has signed a decree declaring Vietnamese Cardinal François Nguyen Van Thuan as Venerable.
The decree confirms that Cardinal Van Thuan – who spent 13 years in jail, nine of which were in solitary confinement – lived a life of heroic virtue.
During those years he clandestinely ordained priests, distributed Communion to Catholic prisoners, and converted atheists and Buddhists. He became so effective at evangelising his prison guards that the authorities had to keep changing them round, according to the Telegraph.
