Scottish Catholic Observer

“May the help of God and of their brothers give them strength and support,” the Pope said last Sunday. More than 273 people were killed and hundreds more injured in the 7.8 magnitude quake that struck Ecuador overnight. The strongest earthquake to hit Ecuador in decades flattened buildings and buckled highways along its Pacific coast.

Sr Clare Theresa Crockett, a 33-year-old missionary from Derry, was based at a school in Playa Prieta and was teaching when the quake struck.

In a statement confirming her death, the Crockett family said: “On Sunday 17 April, we lost our daughter, sister and aunt Sister Clare Theresa Crockett as a result of the earthquake in Ecuador.”

Fr Roland Cahoon, the nun’s spiritual director, told BBC Radio that Sr Crockett was ‘a beautiful person.’ “This is a young girl who gave her life to God and died for the Gospel,” the priest added.

“She was a joyful girl. I’ve known her since she was a teenager… I’ll remember the joy that she brought to her youth group and the enthusiasm she showed for her vocation to religious life. It’s counter-cultural to join a religious order for a young girl and she embraced it.