Pope Francis has canonised two 19th
Century nuns who lived in Ottoman-ruled Palestine, making them the first
Palestinian saints in modern times.
Marie Alphonsine Ghattas and Mariam Bawardy were among four new saints declared in Rome's St Peter's Square.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and over 2,000 Christian pilgrims from the region attended the ceremony. The move is seen as a token of Vatican support for dwindling Christian communities in the Middle East.
Both are reputed to have performed miracles, according to research by church authorities. Both nuns were educators who lived through tough conditions,
overcoming male dominance in Ottoman society, poverty and ill-health
while helping others.
They are said to have seen apparitions of the Virgin Mary and remained in close communication with her.
The promotion by Pope Francis to sainthood of these two women, born in
Palestine when it was under Ottoman rule in the 19th Century, speaks
volumes about his commitment to revitalising the diminishing Christian
presence in the Middle East.
The total number of Christians in Israel and the Palestinian territories has declined to less than 2% of the population.
Over the past year Arabic has been added to the five main languages used
in Vatican information bulletins, and a new Vatican handbook in Arabic
has just been published.
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