By Patrick Downes | Hawaii Catholic Herald

Pope John Paul II, on April 19 at the Vatican, gave the title of “venerable” to Mother Marianne Cope of Molokai, a Franciscan Sister who came to Hawaii from New York 121 years ago to care for the victims of Hansen’s disease.

The pope signed the decree in a small ceremony, which advanced 15 sainthood causes, shortly before noon, declaring the nun worthy of veneration and establishing her as a formal candidate for beatification and canonization. The process for her beatification may now proceed.

The venerable decree officially affirms that Mother Marianne “lived a life of heroic virtue.”

“For more than 30 years, she helped (Hansen’s disease patients) on the island of Molokai with exemplary Christian charity, inspiring admiration for her heroic mission,” said Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, head of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes at the Vatican ceremony.

Mother Marianne’s congregation, the Sisters of the Third Franciscan Order of Syracuse and Hawaii, are “very pleased,” said Sister Mary Laurence Hanley of Syracuse, N.Y. Sister Mary Laurence is the Franciscan’s director of Mother Marianne’s cause for sainthood.

Franciscan Sister Marion Kikukawa, vice postulator for the cause said, April 19, “This is a glorious day for the sisters and even more so for the church, especially the church in Hawaii and in Syracuse.”

Sister William Marie Eleniki, regional administrator of the Franciscan Sisters in Hawaii, announced the news April 19 to big applause at St.MichaelSchool in Waialua where she is principal.

“Everybody is excited about this,” she said. “It’s something we’ve all dreamed of happening, and now it is really happening.”

Mother Marianne is deserving of this honor, Sister William Marie said. “She was a holy person, a remarkable person.”

“Besides, it’s so nice to hear good news about good people nowadays,” she said.

The papal decree had been expected after the final hurdle in the process to have Mother Marianne declared venerable was accomplished in January.

On Jan. 13, the committee of cardinals and bishops of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints voted unanimously to recommend the declaration, concluding a 25-year-old examination of the life and virtue of Mother Marianne.

The vote by the cardinals and bishops followed similarly unanimous decisions by the Vatican congregation’s committee of historians and committee of theologians, earlier steps in the process.

Sister Mary Laurence said in January that achieving the designation of venerable is “the most difficult step” in the canonization process.

The April 19 signing was a simpler ceremony than usual because of the pope’s health, said Sister Mary Laurence. Because of this and the “short notice” of the announcement, only a few people related to Mother Marianne’s cause attended. They were Franciscan Father Ernesto Piacentino, the postulator of the cause; Franciscan Father Julian Zambanini, representing Sister Grace Anne Dillenschneider, the superior of the Franciscan Sisters; Franciscan Father Nevin Hammon of Syracuse; and Msgr. Robert Sarno, an American representative of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Followed Damien in Kalaupapa

Mother Marianne was born in Germany, and two years later her family immigrated to Utica, N.Y. After working briefly in a factory, she joined the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis in Syracuse, N.Y., and taught at a parish school. She later became administrator of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse.

In 1883 at age 45 she left a thriving hospital ministry in New York with six sisters to provide health care for Hawaii’s leprosy patients, the first U.S. missionary to do so.

She worked in Honolulu and on Maui, where she established MalulaniHospital, before arriving in Kalaupapa, Molokai, on Nov. 14, 1888, five months before the death of Father Damien, to care for the women patients in Bishop Home.

She quickly became the guiding force in the settlement. Her work was celebrated in honors bestowed by the Hawaiian government and in a poem written by Robert Louis Stevenson. She died on the island at age 80, Aug. 9, 1918, and is buried in Kalaupapa.

In 1980, Honolulu Bishop John J. Scanlan established a commission to write the historical report for the cause of Mother Marianne. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints accepted the report in 1983.

The next step for Mother Marianne is beatification, a process that requires a “miracle” — usually an unexplainable medical healing — attributed to the candidate’s intercession.

One alleged miracle is already in the hands of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, where it must undergo rigorous scrutiny by a committee of doctors and a committee of theologians. The case involves a New YorkState girl who about 10 years ago, dying from multiple organ failure, recovered quickly and completely after prayers were said to Mother Marianne.

For the final step of canonization, the process is repeated with a second miracle.

One of the more fundamental requirements of the beatification process is the exhumation of the body of the candidate for sainthood so that it can be properly identified and protected.

The postulator for the cause of Mother Marianne, Father Piacentino, last week requested of Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo permission to have Mother Marianne’s body exhumed for this purpose. The bishop is in the process of petitioning the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to allow the exhumation.

Another requirement for beatification is the erection of a secure and accessible shrine for the potential saint. Sister Marion said that her congregation is now grappling with the question as to where this shrine would be.

“We ask for prayers that we make the wisest and best decision not just for Mother Marianne but for the church so that her life and example can continue to inspire others in the future,” she said.

Mother Marianne’s leadership and saintly example have resulted in an impressive island legacy including two major Oahu hospitals, two hospices, a middle and high school, and a wealth of local vocations. About one fifth of the Franciscan community’s 300 sisters today are island born and many have held significant positions in the order.

“Mother Marianne brought so many people to God and to the service of others,” said Sister Mary Laurence. “Her example of courage and cheerfulness in hardship teaches us how to meet adversity in an heroic fashion.”

The late historian Sacred Hearts Father Reginald Yzendoorn called Mother Marianne a woman “with an extraordinary heart.”

Hawaii ’s other candidate for sainthood, Blessed Damien de Veuster was declared venerable in 1977. He was beatified in 1995, a few years after a miracle attributed to his intercession was verified. The second miracle, necessary for his canonization, was submitted to Rome last year where it awaits examination by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The wait between Mother Marianne being declared venerable and being beatified is expected to be much shorter than Blessed Damien’s, given that a miracle is already being investigated.

Contributing to this report is John Thavis in Rome.