KALAUPAPA, Hawaii (Zenit): Mother Marianne Cope, a Franciscan nun whose mission in Hawaii was linked to that of Blessed Damien of Molokai, is on the road to being canonised a saint.
Her cause was accepted unanimously late last month by theologians of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, which supervises the process of beatification and canonisation, said the Franciscan regional administrator, Sr William Marie Eleniki.
The process has therefore begun for Mother Marianne to be declared venerable, a step toward her possible beatification and canonisation.
Born in Germany in 1838, Marianne Cope grew up in Utica, New York. She arrived in Hawaii in 1883, in response to King David Kalakaua’s request for assistance for children with leprosy.
At that time Hansen’s disease was described as a “national affliction” in Hawaii.
Mother Marianne, who was superior of the Franciscan Convent in Syracuse, New York, answered the call and took six other nuns with her. She remained in the islands until her death in 1918 at age 80.
Mother Marianne worked in Kalaupapa, on the island of Molokai, with Fr Damien, during the Belgian priest’s last five months of life. He was beatified in 1995.
