Pope Francis has officially made the Martyrs of Compiègne saints. It was a rare moment on 18 December, not only because the sixteen Sisters who were martyred have not had a miracle officially attributed to them, but also because no one in the Church disagreed with the decision to canonise them.
In order to understand why the decision – which typically tends to divide members of the Church, with some for and some against any canonisation in question – met with what was basically universal applause, it’s important to know the story of the Carmelite Sisters guillotined in Paris on 17 July 1794 during the blood-soaked and chaotic phase of the French Revolution known as the Reign of Terror.
