Pope Francis canonises 19th-century Palestinian nuns

Canonisations of Mariam Baouardy and Marie-Alphonsine Ghattas a symbol of support for Christians facing persecution in Middle East

The Guardian, Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome, 17 May 2015

Pope Francis leads a ceremony for the canonisation of the nuns in St Peter’s
square on Sunday. Photograph: Tony Gentile/Reuters

Pope Francis has canonised two 19th-century Palestinian nuns – the first Arabic-speaking saints in the Catholic church – in a ceremony in St Peter’s Square attended by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas.

The canonisations were significant because they can be interpreted as a symbol of support and encouragement for Christians who are facing persecution across the Middle East, a fact that Francis has repeatedly cited as a cause of grave concern.

“Their luminous example challenges us in our lives as Christians,” he said during the ceremony on Sunday, as 2,000 pilgrims looked on, many of them waving Palestinian flags.

The event has also made clear the Argentinean pontiff’s support for a two-state solution in the conflict with Israel. In his 20-minute meeting with Abbas on Saturday – which the Vatican described as “cordial” – the pope repeated his wish for direct negotiations between Israel and Palestine to be resumed and emphasised the importance of inter-religious dialogue.

During the meeting, he gave Abbas a medallion with an angel on it and said: “It is appropriate because you are an angel of peace.”

The nuns who were canonised – Mariam Baouardy and Marie-Alphonsine Ghattas – lived in Palestine under Ottoman rule. Both lived in poverty and were said to have performed miracles, which is a necessary condition for sainthood.

Baouardy founded a Carmelite monastery in Bethlehem and is said to have received stigmata –marks or bleeding that resemble the wounds suffered by Christ on the cross.

  

Ghattas was born in Jerusalem and co-founded the Sisters of the Rosary, an order that still has centres across the Middle East and operates services for children and the elderly. She was said to have been responsible for the miraculous healing of an electrician who was hurt in an accident in 2009 and considered brain damaged by doctors. After he woke up from his coma fully recovered, his family said it was their prayers to Ghattas that saved him.

The canonisation ceremony took place just days after the Vatican announced its intention to sign its first treaty with Palestine. It was not the first time the Vatican or Pope Francis recognised Palestine as a state – the church has been using that language in official documents since November 2012 – but the news about the treaty was nevertheless hailed by supporters of Palestinian statehood and criticised by some Israeli officials.

“We believe that such a decision is not conducive to bringing the Palestinians back to the negotiating table,” said a spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry.

Late week at a meeting in Switzerland in which bishops and other delegates discussed Christian relations with Muslims in Europe, Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, the archbishop of Bordeaux, said attacks in Europe and the “evolution of the international situation” in the Middle East had “made us aware that hate conflict in the Middle East could reach us in our daily lives”.

He continued: “We see in our societies an increase in Islamophobic reactions. I am struck by the fact that these are being expressed ever more openly, even in our Christian communities.

“We notice that a certain number of Muslims take badly the fact of being continually challenged to show their loyalty to the laws of our European societies, when they are not considered simply as a ‘fifth column’, the accomplices of a tough and conquering Islam.”

The cardinal added that only a path of “dialogue, awareness, collaboration and mutual respect can realistically prepare for the future. This is both a challenge for our societies and a call from the Lord,” he said.

Pope Francis welcomes Palestinian authority President Mahmud Abbas during

a private audience at the Vatican on May 16, 2015 (AFP Photo/Alberto Pizzoli)

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