Pope Francis canonises 10 saints at Mass in Vatican

They can 'inspire paths of dialogue' among leaders, he said

Pope Francis leads a canonisation ceremony at St Peter's Square in the Vatican on Sunday. AFP

Pope Francis recognised 10 new saints at a Mass in St Peter’s Square on Sunday.

Due to knee pain the pontiff was forced to use a wheelchair while presiding over the first canonisation ceremony at the Vatican in two years.

But he stood for a long period at the start to greet priests concelebrating the Mass, presided over the nearly two-hour ceremony and then stood and walked for 15 minutes after it ended to greet dozens of cardinals and bishops.

Earlier this month, Pope Francis, 85, was seen using a wheelchair in public for the first time.

He told the crowd of more than 45,000 that the 10 embodied holiness in everyday life, and said the church needs to embrace this idea rather than an unattainable ideal of personal achievement.

“Holiness does not consist of a few heroic gestures, but of many small acts of daily love,” he said.

In a tweet, he said as wars increase the new saints could "inspire paths of dialogue," particularly among leaders.

The pope capped off the Mass by taking a ride around St Peter’s Square in the popemobile, greeting some of the tens of thousands of people who turned up to celebrate the Catholic Church’s newest saints.

For months the head of the Catholic Church has been living with strained ligaments in his right knee. His appearance on Sunday was evidence the pontiff is still able to walk, but appears to be taking it easy to let the ligaments heal before an intense period of travel this summer.

In July, the pope will travel to Africa where he will visit the Congo and South Sudan. He will also visit Canada, the Vatican said.

The last canonisation Mass at the Vatican was held before the Covid-19 pandemic began and, aside from Easter celebrations last month, drew one of the biggest crowds in recent times.

Pope Francis waves to the crowds in St Peter's Square on Sunday. AFP

Among the newly-canonised were a Dutch priest-journalist who was killed by the Nazis, a lay Indian convert who was killed for his faith and a half-dozen French and Italian priests and nuns who founded religious orders.

The Italian president, Dutch foreign minister and minister for minorities of India were among dignitaries present.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin tweeted that it was an honour to attend the ceremony where three French citizens would be elevated to sainthood.

St Peter’s Square was decorated with Dutch flowers in honour of Rev Titus Brandsma, a martyr saint who was killed at the Dachau concentration camp in 1942.

In the lead up to his sainthood being declared, a group of Dutch and German journalists formally proposed that Rev Brandsma become a co-patron saint of journalists, alongside St Francis de Sales. They pointed to his work to combat propaganda during the rise of fascism and Nazism in Europe.

In an open letter to Pope Francis last month, the group noted that Rev Brandsma successfully argued for a ban on printing Nazi propaganda in Catholic newspapers. There has been no immediate response from the pope.