By Matters India Reporter
Kochi: Cardinal George Alencherry, head of the Syro-Malabar Church, says the upcoming beatification of Sister Rani Maria is a blessing for the Indian Church.
“Pope Francis’ decision to beatify Sister Rani Maria is a moment of great joy for the entire Church in India,” the cardinal said March 23, two days after the college of cardinals approved the Franciscan Clarist Congregation nun’s beatification.
The nun was only 41 when a hired assassin stabbed her death in a central Indian village on February 22, 1995.
“Pope Francis has signed the recommendation of the college of cardinals for the beatification Sister Rani Maria,” said a press release from the Syro-Malabar Church’s headquarters in Kochi, Kerala. The date for the beatification will be announced later, noted the press note issued by Father Jimmy Poochakkatt, the Church’s official spokesperson.
After beatification the nun will be known as martyr Sister Rani Maria, the press note added.
Beatification is the penultimate stage in the four-phased canonization process in the Catholic Church. Rani Maria’s cause of canonization began in 2003 and she was declared a Servant of God four years later.
Samandar Singh, her assassin, was hired by some landlords who were upset by her work among poor landless agricultural laborers in Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh state.
Rani Maria was born on January 29, 1954, as the second of seven children of Paily and Eliswa Vattalil at Pulluvazhy, a Syro-Malabar parish under Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese.