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Irene Stefani beatification draws Kenyan crowds | |
(1 day later) | |
Tens of thousands of Catholic pilgrims have attended the beatification in the Kenyan town of Nyeri of Italian-born nun Irene Stefani. | |
Sister Stefani went to Kenya in 1915 and worked as a nurse at British military hospitals during WW1. | |
She then settled near Nyeri where she was known as "Nyaatha", meaning "mother of mercy" in the Kikuyu language. | |
Nyeri has held three days of beatification ceremonies, taking the nun a step closer to becoming a saint. | |
Tanzanian Cardinal Polycarp Pengo on Saturday read a letter of beatification in Latin from Pope Francis, declaring that the sister "from now on will be called Blessed". | |
Kenya's Daily Nation said up to 100,000 people were in attendance, with millions more watching on live television. | |
How does someone become a saint? | How does someone become a saint? |
The BBC's Anne Soy in Nyeri says there was great activity in the town, with roads painted and street lights fixed, ahead of the influx of visitors. | |
The ceremonies began with a Mass and vigil on Friday afternoon, she says. | |
Pope Francis did not attend Saturday's beatification Mass. | |
Sister Stefani died in 1930 at the age of 39. | |
On Sunday, her remains, which were exhumed in 1995, are to be taken from the Mathari Memorial Chapel to a new tomb at Nyeri Cathedral. | |
British military officers will oversee the burial as a mark of respect for her work treating soldiers in Kenya and Tanzania during World War One, our reporter says. | British military officers will oversee the burial as a mark of respect for her work treating soldiers in Kenya and Tanzania during World War One, our reporter says. |
For a person to be beatified, there must be verification that a miracle has occurred as a result of people praying to the beatification candidate after they have died. | |
In 1989 almost 300 people who were taking refuge in a church during Mozambique's civil war prayed to the nun and much-needed water was said to have appeared in the font at Nipepe church. | In 1989 almost 300 people who were taking refuge in a church during Mozambique's civil war prayed to the nun and much-needed water was said to have appeared in the font at Nipepe church. |
"It was enough for all of them to drink, to refresh themselves and even to bath a baby girl who was born in that occasion," the Irene Stefani website says. | "It was enough for all of them to drink, to refresh themselves and even to bath a baby girl who was born in that occasion," the Irene Stefani website says. |
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