Pope Benedict XVI decreed the canonization; Pope Francis was stuck with it. The BBC adds in a sidebar: Otranto 14 August 1480 The `’Martyrs of Otranto” were 813 Italians beheaded for defying demands by Turkish invaders to renounce Christianity The Turks had been sent by Mohammed II, who had already captured the “second Rome” of … Continue reading Pope canonizes 800 Christians murdered for refusing to convert to Islam