Sr Rani Maria's sister Sr Selmy Paul. FileDid Sr Rani Maria hold on to her faith, hope, love, honesty and courage until the very end? Did her death amount to martyrdom? Was there an ephemeral aura around her life?
Sr Bincy Teresa was supposed to be skeptical. She was the “external collaborator” who was tasked with analyzing the life and death of Sr Rani Maria, who was stabbed to death in Madhya Pradesh in 1995.
The road to sainthood in the Catholic Church is governed by a strict set of conditions. The process could be set in motion only five years after the person’s death so that the Church could look at the incidents objectively after emotions have died out.
After five years, the local church could start the nomination process as per ‘Sanctorum Martyrum’. In Rani Maria’s case, the permission was given by former bishop George Anathil.
The matter is then subjected to the perusal of history and theology commissions. The history commission is tasked with recording the life history of the person. The theology commission is supposed to evaluate the person’s morality. They went through letters and published works. They have gathered evidence from the dioceses where Rani Maria had worked. They have collected 64 testimonials.
External collaborator
The Vatican approved 10 volumes of records submitted by the local church in 2009. Sr Bincy was appointed as the “external collaborator” in 2010 to launch the second phase of the process. She was responsible for answering the complex questions posed by the Vatican.
She had to find out if the nun took challenges head on with a free mind. Whether she died in defense of her faith would be investigated in the third stage of the process.
A nine-member commission went through the documents critically. The commission unanimously found that the nun died in defense of her faith.
Steps to sainthood
There are four steps on the road to sainthood. Five years after death, a person is honored as “the servant of god”. Martyrdom is considered a miracle work to protect faith. So Rani Maria has been termed “venerable” and beatified.
A work of miracle has to be proved before she could be declared a saint.
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