The Congregation for the Causes of Saints today announced 15 new decrees, of which five announce the recognition of a miracle attributed to a "venerable servant of God," and ten indicate that candidates for beatification have been found to have shown "heroic virtue." These decrees were formally promulgated in the Pope's presence this morning.

      Among those in whose lives the Congregation found evidence of "heroic virtue," the best known was Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, the famous Capuchin monk and stigmatist. Born in 1887 as Francesco Forgione, he attained worldwide fame as a confessor at the Capuchin monastery of San Giovanni Rotondo; thousands of pilgrims flocked to the site, and many reported miraculous apparitions or cures. He died in 1968.