Blessed Marianne Close to Sainthood

Molokai’s Blessed Marianne Cope, who served in Kalaupapa with St. Damien, came one step closer to sainthood last Tuesday when Vatican officials attributed a second miracle to her intercession, according to the Syracuse, N.Y.-based Sisters of St. Francis.

Now all that remains before her canonization is Pope Benedict XVI’s approval, expected sometime next year.

A group of cardinals and bishops in Rome confirmed a medical board’s decision that the recovery of a woman from a fatal health condition was inexplicable, and due to a miracle of Blessed Marianne, according to Syracuse.com.

The German-born Catholic nun was declared “blessed” in 2005, after the cure of a cancer patient was attributed to her. Two miracles are required for Catholic Church to declare an individual a saint.

St. Damien de Veuster was canonized in 2009, and Blessed Marianne would be the second saint who served on Molokai.

Blessed Marianne served patients of Hansen’s disease, or leprosy, in Kalaupapa from 1888 until her death of natural causes in 1918.