2 Keralites among 6 new Saints

• Kuriakose Chavara, Euphrasia Eluvathingal canonised
• Indian Catholics now have three Saints
• Sister Alphonsa was raised to the revered rank in 2008

Vatican City: Pope Francis on Sunday named six new saints, including two from India, in a mass gathering tens of thousands of worshippers at Saint Peter's Square.

Some 5,000 Indians were among those attending the mass to see Francis canonise Kuriakose Elias Chavara (1805-1871) and Euphrasia Eluvathingal (1877-1952). Both were from Kerala and members of the ancient Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in southern India.

The four other Saints from Italy are Giovanni Antonio Farina, Ludovico da Casoria, Nicola da Longobardi and Amato Ronconi. Catholics use the term ‘Saint’ to refer to holy men and women who, through extraordinary lives of virtue, have already entered Heaven. Canonisation is the act by which the Catholic Church or Eastern Orthodox Church declares a deceased person to be a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognised saints.

With Chavara and Euphrasia's canonisation, the finale of the long-drawn process is known in Catholic parlance, the centuries-old Syro Malabar Catholic Church in Kerala has three Saints, the first being Sister Alphonsa raised to the revered rank in 2008.

Founder of the congregation Carmalites of Mary Immaculate (CMI), Kuriakose Elias Chavara, who was born in a family of modest means in Kuttanad in Alappuzha district in 1805 and died in 1871, was more than a spiritual leader of Syro Malabar Catholic community.

Historians and church chroniclers consider him as a social reformer who gave thrust to secular education of not only Catholics but also of children of other communities, especially the depressed classes. Incidentally, one of the first institutions he founded was a Sanskrit school.

As the Prior General of the congregation, Chavara also took initiative for setting up a printing press and encouraged the community leaders to launch its own publications.

Sister Euphrasia, who was born in 1877 at Arnattukara in Thrissur and died in 1952, on the other hand, was more meditatively inclined, who chose to live in the confines of a convent in Thrissur helping people through prayers and wise counsel. "Evuprasiamma", as she is known to the members of the local community around her convent in Ollur, brought spiritual solace to the people who approached her through prayers and wise counsel.

Three places closely associated to the lives of Chavara and Euprhasia at Mannman in Kottayam, Koonammavu in Ernakulam and Ollur in Thrissur have been in a jubilant mood for the last several days with the faithful thronging churches in large numbers for thanks giving service and prayers.