The 17, just a portion of the more than 40 nuns from the Franciscan Sisters of Syracuse based in Hawai'i, will join others here in honoring the first woman with Hawai'i ties to be on the path to sainthood.

Born Barbara Koob in 1838, Mother Marianne became the head of her order in Syracuse; she and other nuns answered a plea to come to the Islands to help with what was being called its national affliction, Hansen's disease. She arrived in 1883, expecting to stay just a short while, but eventually made Moloka'i's Kalaupapa settlement her home. She died there in 1918.

Eleniki estimated about 60 people from Hawai'i will be on hand at the Vatican when Pope John Paul is scheduled to officially declare her "Blessed" Marianne Cope, including some patients from Kalaupapa. Besides some doctors from St. Francis Medical Center, who are planning to go on their own, there will be groups from churches, as well.

Sister Marie J. Romano, who teaches English at Chaminade, is helping interested parties connect with a tour set up by Seawind Tours & Travel, who also helped arrange the beatification tour for Father Damien, the other Kalaupapa cleric on his way to sainthood. Romano said she has received calls about going to Rome, and referred them directly to Seawind, which, she said, has space available. For $2,946, some 20 people will spend May 10-17 in Rome, Assisi and the Tiber Valley. However, that won't include her.

"I'm going wherever my trip is paid, and so far, what I hear is the sisters are taking care of me," she said.

With the abbreviated timeline — the notice of beatification came months earlier than expected — it's been a bit of a rush, Romano said.

"We don't have the year we had for Father Damien, to arrange (accommodations)," she said. "Here, we had just a few months. ... Mother Marianne is only one of several beatifications, so there's people coming from different countries and filling up the rooms in Rome."

Among the others are seven martyred priests who died in Spain in 1936, two 19th-century women founders of religious orders in Europe and the most famous, Charles de Foucauld, a priest and missionary killed when desert tribes in the Sahara revolted against France in 1916. Mother Marianne has the advantage of being the sole American to be beatified, Romano added.

As for concerns over whether the pope's failing health may delay the proceedings, Eleniki was optimistic.

"He'll be fine," she said. "The mere fact that he's out of the hospital is good."

In related news, the investigation into the miracle that will help "Blessed" Damien de Veuster become a saint is ongoing. While many had hoped it would be wrapped up by now, the postulator of the cause of the Sacred Hearts priest has returned to Rome. However, he is expected back next month.

The miracle had been under re-investigation because of questions into whether the woman who had been miraculously cured of a tumor prayed for intercession from someone besides Father Damien.