The Advertiser last night confirmed information received about the date change with Sister Mary Laurence Hanley of the New York-based Sisters of the Third Franciscan Order of Syracuse. Sister Hanley has led the sainthood cause of Mother Marianne, the nun who worked alongside Blessed Damien DeVeuster in caring for Hansen's disease patients at the Kalaupapa settlement on Moloka'i.

"The sisters know it's a go," Sister Hanley said.

The date change is expected to be announced today by Syracuse, N.Y., Roman Catholic Bishop James Moynihan.

Word that the beatification might be delayed from May 15 was of concern to the nuns in Hawai'i, who had made full payment for the trip to Rome and were not eligible for a refund because of the late date. About 40 people from Hawai'i, including Kalaupapa resident Winnie Marks Harada, are planning to attend the ceremony with 90 others from Syracuse.

"It's a rather encouraging response to the plight of those who invested in this to show their devotion," Sister Hanley said.

A conflict in the schedule of new Pope Benedict XVI prompted the Vatican to reschedule the planned May 15 beatification of Mother Marianne and others: seven priests killed in Spain in 1936; two 19th century women who founded religious orders in Europe; and a French priest killed in the Sahara when desert tribes revolted against France in 1916.

The pope will not preside over the beatification ceremony, Sister Hanley said.

"It will be a cardinal," she said. "The idea of the Holy Father doing beatifications started 40 years ago but it was traditional for cardinals to do it. I think reverting back to tradition is good."

The pope, however, may meet with the pilgrims traveling to Rome for the beatification and/or venerate the relics of those being beatified, Sister Hanley said. "I don't know if we'll have one, both or neither," she said.

The Syracuse sisters received word of the date change from Moynihan's office. That was preceded by a call from the order's representative in Rome asking if "we were ready for the beatification and we said we were ready," Sister Hanley said.

"Ready" means being in compliance with specific requirements for the ceremony. Sister Hanley said it includes having a big banner with an enlarged photo of Mother Marianne to be hung at the Vatican; information booklets on Mother Marianne printed in the languages of all the others being beatified; and separate articles printed in English and Italian for the Vatican's newspapers on Mother Marianne's spirituality, her life and actions, history of the cause, some of her writings and something written by Moynihan.

There's also the need for a choir, which will perform before the Mass. Mother Marianne's choir will have 40 voices, mostly comprising nuns from Syracuse and Hawai'i, Sister Hanley said.

Mother Marianne, born as Barbara Koob, served the patients at Kalaupapa for 35 years until her death in 1918 at age 80. In December 2004, the late Pope Paul II accepted a report of a miracle attributed to Mother Marianne's intervention. Her beatification, which is a step toward sainthood, was announced Feb. 23.