Jerusalem: Patriarch welcomes forthcoming canonization of two Palestinian saints

Bl Marie Alphonsine Ghattas Bl Mariam Bawardy

Jerusalem's Latin Patriarchate has hailed the upcoming canonisation in Rome this Sunday, by Pope Francis of two nuns who will become the first modern-day Palestinian saints: Marie Alphonsine Ghattas of Jerusalem and Mariam Bawardy of Galilee, both of whom lived in Ottoman Palestine during the 19th century.

"We are in full preparation," Bishop William Shomali said yesterday. The pair's canonisation "means that holiness is still possible, that.. spiritual perfection is still possible," he said. "Our Holy Land continues to be holy, not only because of the holy places it hosts, but also because good people live here."

Pope Francis announced in February that the two nuns would be canonised -- the first Palestinian Arabs to gain sainthood. Marie Alphonsine Ghattas was born in Jerusalem in 1847, and died there in 1927. She was beatified in 2009. Mariam Bawardy was born in Galilee, now in northern Israel, in 1843. She became a nun in France and died in Bethlehem in 1878. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1983.

Although there are several saints who lived in the region during Christianity's early days,Blessed Alphonsine Bawardy and Blessed Mariam Ghattas are the first to be canonised from Ottoman-era Palestine.

"The Catholic Church has its own parameters to honour the best and outstanding among its faithful," Bishop Shomali said. "Our Holy Land has given hundreds of saints during its long history. Our greatest saint is Holy Mary, mother of Jesus. "But we have three only from the modern period, whose language was not Greek, or Latin, nor Aramaic, but Arabic."

The canonisation of a third Palestinian - a Salesian monk - is still under review by the Church.

Read more stories about the two saints and the preparations for the canonizations here: http://en.lpj.org/category/church/saints-mariam-baouardy-and-marie-alphonsine-ghattas/

Source: Patriarchate of Jerusalem