Pope elevates Thresia to sainthood

Vatican City : Indian nun Mariam Thresia and four others were declared Saints by Pope Francis at a grand ceremony at the Vatican City on Sunday.

Mariam Thresia, who founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family in Thrissur in May 1914, was raised to the highest position within the centuries-old institution during the ceremony at the St Peter's Square.

The nun from Kerala was canonised along with English Cardinal John Henry Newman, Swiss laywoman Marguerite Bays, Brazilian Sister Dulce Lopes and Italian Sister Giuseppina Vannini.

The ceremony included a Latin hymn and a recommendation by a representative of the Congregation for the Saints. "Today we give thanks to the Lord for our new Saints," Pope Francis told the gathering.

Huge portraits of the five new Saints were hung from Saint Peter's Basilica during the ceremony, which was attended by tens of thousands of devotees.

Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan led the Indian delegation at the ceremony. The event was also attended by Prince Charles.

Noting that three of the new saints canonized on Sunday were religious women, the pope said, they show "us that the consecrated life is a journey of love to the existential peripheries of the world".