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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Thursday, May 5, 2005

Nun's beatification confirmed for May 14

By Mary Kaye Ritz
Advertiser Religion & Ethics Writer

The beatification ceremony for Kalaupapa missionary Mother Marianne Cope has been confirmed for May 14, the diocese of Syracuse, N.Y., reported yesterday.

Marianne Cope

Nuns across the Islands were calling one another as early as 7 a.m. yesterday with the news that their contingent would be able to see the beatification after all. "Prayer works!" declared Sister Marie Jose Romano of Honolulu.

The new date is one day earlier than the schedule set before the ascension of Pope Benedict XVI last month.

Eighteen Hawai'i nuns and 65 Hawai'i lay people are planning to be in Rome for the event, Sister Romano said. The diocese reported that the Moloka'i nun will earn the title "Blessed" at a ceremony at St. Peter's Basilica. The process will be overseen not by the pope, as has been the practice for the past 25 years, but by Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes.

Before Pope John Paul II died, Mother Marianne's beatification had been slated for May 15. However, the new pope, Benedict XVI, was scheduled to ordain priests in Rome at that time, since those ordinations for the Diocese of Rome had been pushed back by John Paul II's death.

Mother Marianne will not be alone. The beatification of Spanish Sister Florentina Nicol Goni, also known as Mother Ascension del Corazon de Jesus, will also occur. She was the founder of a women's religious order called the Dominican Missionaries of the Rosary.

Sister William Marie Eleniki said she never had any doubt that things would work out.

"I never had it feeling it wasn't going to happen," she said. "I think the mere fact we never got no in the very beginning (was hopeful). Everything seemed to have fallen into place. We were on a roll and had to keep rolling."

Reach Mary Kaye Ritz at mritz@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8035.