Scottish Catholic Observer

Pope Francis Canonised two 19th Century Palestinian nuns yesterday.

Srs Marie Alphonsine Ghattas and Mariam Bawardy were among four new saints declared in Rome’s St Peter’s Square.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and over 2000 Christian pilgrims from the region attended the ceremony naming Ss Marie-Alphonsine (above left) and St Mary of Jesus Crucified (above right.)

During his homily, Pope Francis stressed the 19th-century Palestinian nuns’ contributions to interreligious harmony and charitable service. St Marie-Alphonsine, who founded a religious order dedicated to education and care for the poor, ‘shows us the importance of becoming responsible for one another, of living lives of service, one to another,” the Pope said.

During the Canonisation ceremony at the start of Mass, Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, recalled that St Mary of Jesus Crucified had been nearly killed in an attempt to force her to convert to Islam. The liturgy also included a prayer for ‘persecuted Christians.’

Pope Francis didn’t mention St Mariam’s near-martyrdom, noting instead that her ‘docility to the spirit also made her a means of encounter and fellowship with the Muslim world.’

The other two nuns who were Canonised are Ss Jeanne Emilie de Villeneuve from France and Maria Cristina of the Immaculate Conception from Italy.

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