On the occasion of the liturgical memorial of the Blessed Martyr Friar Francesco ZIRANO (January 29), the ecclesial community of Santa Maria di Betlem in Sassari, Sardinia (Italy), commemorated this Conventual Franciscan friar with devotion and solemnity.
Blessed Francesco ZIRANO was himself a native of Sassari. He was martyred in Algiers, in hatred of the Faith, on January 25, 1603, for his efforts in ransoming Christians whom the Moors had enslaved and deported to Algeria. Chroniclers of the time say he freed some twenty thousand Christians.
The story of Friar Francesco ZIRANO, who was beatified in Sassari on October 12, 2014, is truly significant. In 1599, he obtained authorization from Pope CLEMENT VIII to raise money to pay the ransom fees of some Christian slaves (including the Blessed martyr’s cousin, Friar Francesco SERRA, OFM Conv.). After three years of exhausting begging throughout the whole island of Sardinia, he was finally able to depart for Africa on July 28, 1602. Passing through Spain, he arrived in Algiers on August 21, 1602. Amid an atmosphere of tension and suspicion, he was able to free just four Christians.
From then on, with the escalation of political tension between the Turkish Regency and the Kingdom of Cuco, allied with Spain, it became impossible to intervene further on behalf of the Christian slaves. Our Blessed martyr was captured, imprisoned as a spy, and sentenced to death. His martyrdom took place in Algiers on January 25, 1603. The sentence was carried out with ruthless cruelty. He was skinned alive and his skin hung from the city gate as a warning to anyone wishing to embrace the Christian faith.
His commemoration was celebrated on January 29, at the friary church of Santa Maria di Betlem. Those participating included numerous priests, representatives of the city’s institutions and many faithful. The Most Reverend Gianfranco SABA, Archbishop of Sassari, presided over the solemn celebration honoring the Blessed martyr. Let us entrust all situations of violence, hatred and persecution, which involve and oppress believers everywhere in the world, to the intercession of our Blessed martyr.
Friar Silvano BIANCO
