Global InformationFrancesco Zirano information
Blessed Francesco Zirano OFMConv | |
|---|---|
| Martyr | |
| Born | 1564 Sassari, Sardinia, Kingdom of Sardinia |
| Died | 25 January 1603 (aged 39) Algiers, Ottoman Algeria |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 12 October 2014, Piazzale Antonio Segni, Sassari, Italy by Cardinal Angelo Amato |
| Feast | 29 January |
| Attributes | Franciscan habit |
Francesco Zirano, OFM Conv. (1565 – 25 January 1603) was a Roman Catholic priest from Sardinia and a professed member of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual.[1] He is recognized as a martyr in the Catholic Church. Born and raised in Sardinia, he became an ordained priest in 1586. When Barbary pirates abducted and enslaved his cousin, Zirano raised funds over the course of several years to pay the ransom for his cousin's freedom. He traveled to Algiers in 1602 and helped four Christian slaves escape to freedom, but soldiers later targeted and imprisoned him. The Grand Council of Algiers sentenced him to death for his role in helping the slaves escape and for being a spy for the city's enemies, but his captors offered to spare his life if he would convert to Islam. He refused, and they executed him by flaying.
Zirano's beatification cause commenced in 1731, and Pope Francis eventually approved him for beatification in 2014. Cardinal Angelo Amato presided over his beatification in Sassari on 12 October 2014.[2]
- ^ "Blessed Francesco Zirano". Saints SQPN. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
- ^ "Beatification of Friar Francis Zirano". Conventual Franciscan Friars – Province of Our Lady of Consolation. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 5 Mar 2019.