SW News: An Argentinian cardinal, who was one of the co-founders of World Youth Day, is on the path to sainthood. On February 18, the Holy Father Pope Francis ratified the decree of the Congregation of the Causes for Saints, recognizing the heroic virtues of Cardinal Eduardo Francisco Pironio along with those of a few others.

Cardinal Pironio, who served as the president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, suggested to Pope St John Paul II how a World Youth Day can inspire and unite young believers around the world. He even accompanied the Holy Father for the WYD celebrations in Buenos Aires in Argentina, Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Czestochowa in Poland, Denver in the US and Manila in the Philippines.

Born in 1920 in Neueve de Julio, the cardinal served as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of La Plata and took part in the sessions of the Second Vatican Council and was secretary general of the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM). He played a key role in the council of Medellin in Colombia in 1968 when Latin American prelates debated on how to implement the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. In 1972, he was elected president of CELAM. From 1972 to 1975, he was the bishop of the Mar del Plata.

It was Pope Paul VI who gave him the red hat and made him a member of the Sacred College of Cardinals. Cardinal Pironio was also the personal confessor of the pontiff. It was Pope St John Paul II who nominated him president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity in 1984 and he remained in that position until 1996. He passed away in 1998.

On February 18, the Holy Father also approved the heroic virtues of Sister Juana Mendez Romero of Spain (1937-1990), Italian nun Maria Constanza Panas (1896-1963), Italian Carmelite religious Immacolato Giuseppe di Gesu (1922-1989) and Brazilian religious sister Benigna Victima who belonged to the Helping Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy (1907-1981).