VATICAN CITY (CNS): Pope Benedict XVI canonised four new saints, including the first native-born saint from India, where Christians recently have come under attack from Hindu gangs.
After the two-hour liturgy in St Peter’s Square on October 12, the Pope made a pointed appeal for an end to violence against India’s Christian minority.
He spoke after declaring sainthood for St Alphonsa Muttathupandathu, a nun from south-western India who was known for her holiness during a lifetime of suffering.
The other new saints included an Italian priest, a Swiss missionary sister and an Ecuadorean laywoman.
The liturgy marked a special moment for Indian Catholics. Thousands of Indian pilgrims, including many nuns and priests, applauded and cheered as the brief biography of St Alphonsa was read aloud.
An Indian Government delegation also was present.
After the liturgy, the Pope called for an end to violence against Indian Christians, in the wake of attacks on Church personnel and institutions.
“As the Christian faithful of India give thanks to God for their first native daughter to be presented for public veneration, I wish to assure them of my prayers during this difficult time,” he said.
Since August, anti-Christian violence by Hindu mobs in the Indian state of Orissa has left about 60 people dead, hundreds injured and thousands displaced.
The Indian Government met in early October to discuss the growing problem.
The Pope spoke in his homily about St Alphonsa’s life of extreme physical and spiritual suffering before her death.
St Alphonsa was born in 1910, and at a young age was determined to become a nun after reading the lives of the saints.
When a marriage was arranged for her at the age of 14, she deliberately burned her foot so that her disfigurement would allow her to avoid the engagement.
She joined the Franciscan Clarist Congregation at age 17 and taught for a while, but was soon confined to her convent because of a succession of illnesses, including typhoid fever, pneumonia, skin infections and a wasting disease.
