Two 19th-century nuns on Sunday become the first Palestinians to gain sainthood during an open-air mass celebrated by Pope Francis in St Peter’s Square attended by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
The pontiff urges the faithful to follow the “luminous example” of the two 19th-century sisters and two others, from France and Italy, who are canonized along with them on a sunny spring morning.
Marie Alphonsine Ghattas was born in 1843 in Jerusalem during its rule by the Ottoman Empire, and died there during the British mandate period in 1927.
19th century Catholic nuns Miriam Bawardy (L) and Marie Alphonsine Ghattas (R) are to be canonized by Pope Francis May 17, 2015. (Screen capture: Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem)
She was beatified — the final step before canonization — in 2009.
Mariam Bawardy was born in Galilee, now in northern Israel, in 1846. She became a nun in France and died in Bethlehem in 1878 and was beatified by pope John Paul II in 1983.
Around 2,000 pilgrims from the Palestinian territories, Israel and Jordan, some waving Palestinian flags, attend the mass as well as Abbas, who had a private audience with the pope on Saturday.
— AFP
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