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Australia to get first-ever saint Pope to canonise first Australian
(21 minutes later)
Pope Benedict has announced Australia will get its first saint - Mother Mary MacKillop, a Melbourne-born nun who worked with needy children. Australia is to get its first saint, Mother Mary MacKillop, a Melbourne-born nun who worked with needy children, Pope Benedict has announced.
The Vatican said MacKillop, who died in 1909, would be canonised on 17 October.The Vatican said MacKillop, who died in 1909, would be canonised on 17 October.
The Church ascribes two miracles to MacKillop - the necessary number for a person to be declared a saint. Her work for the Church was sometimes controversial - and in 1869 she was excommunicated for insubordination.
Pope John Paul II officially recognised the first miracle in 1995 and last year Pope Benedict credited her with curing a person of terminal cancer. The Church exonerated her three years later and she was eventually put on the road to sainthood by Pope John Paul II, who beatified her in 1995.
For anyone to become a saint, the Church has to officially recognise them as having carried out two miracles.
Pope John Paul II recognised the first, and last year Pope Benedict credited her with curing a person of cancer.