Martyr nun’s associates thrilled at beatification news

Mangalore Today News Network

Indore, Mar 27, 2017: People associated with Sister Rani Maria are thrilled at the news that Pope Francis has approved her beatification.

Beatification is the penultimate stage in the four-phased canonization process in the Catholic Church. Rani Maria’s cause of canonization began in 2003 and she was declared a Servant of God four years later.

“I am very happy that she is on the way to martyrdom. She got her due for what she had suffered,” says Samunder Singh, the reformed assassin of the Franciscan Clarist Congregation nun.

The nun died of 54 stab wounds inflicted by Singh on February 25, 1995, at deserted forest area near Indore, commercial capital of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The nun, who was then 41, was traveling by a bus to Indore en route to her native place in Kerala, southern India.

Singh was awarded life term for the crime, but was released after 11 years in recognition of his exemplary life in the jail. The slain nun’s family also pleaded for his early release.

“I know I committed a crime that has no justification. I still feel sorry for her. I did the crime influenced by others. I am happy that the Church has recognized her great contribution,” Singh told Matters India on March 24, a day after the pope signed papers for her beatification.

The main reason for Singh’s reformation was the forgiving gesture of the martyred nun’s younger sister, who also belongs to the same congregation. Sister Selmy Paul visited Singh in Jail in 2002 to accept him as her brother. Later, the entire family accepted him as its member.

Singh acknowledged that Sister Paul’s gesture gave him a rebirth.

“Let the will of God be fulfilled,” Sister Paul told Matters India, reacting to the beatification news. “I am very happy about her beatification. I know our family is not worthy of such a recognition, but God has chosen and let His will be done. Whatever happened is happened for the glory of God,” she added.

Archbishop Leo Cornelio of Bhopal, head of the Catholic Church in Madhya Pradesh, says the beatification will “definitely boost the morale of missionaries working” in central India where they face violent attacks on them and their institutions.

Sister Rani Maria’s beatification has once again proved that a Church person’s hard work would not go in vain despite the criticism and confrontations they may face.

The prelate noted that the church always stands with the oppressed people in the caste-ridden Indian society where the poor, Dalit and other weaker sections face exploitation. Sister Rani Maria fought against the modern slavery of bonded labor and ensured that the poor got justice. However, she had to face a brutal death, Archbishop Cornelio told Matters India.

According to him, the slain nun is “a great example” for everyone who works for the poor and the downtrodden. “The work of such persons will not go unnoticed in the eyes of the Lord and also of the Church,” he added.

The prelate also asserted the Church will continue to work for the advancement of the poor and that Sister Rani Maria will become a constant inspiration for those working in difficult places.