Palestinian nun takes step toward sainthood

A Palestinian Christian child is seen playing near a portrait of Maria Alfonsina Danil Ghattas, during a beatification mass of Ghattas at the Church of the Annunciation in the northern Israeli town of Nazareth, Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009. Ghattas was the co-founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary in Jerusalem and lived from 1843-1927.(AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

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Palestinian nun takes step toward sainthood

NAZARETH, Israel — A Palestinian nun who co-founded a charity dedicated to educating Arab girls on Sunday took an important step toward sainthood.

Thousands of worshippers gathered in the biblical town of Nazareth to attend the beatification of the late Sister Maria Alfonsina Danil Ghattas.

Ghattas helped found the Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary of Jerusalem in the 1880s. The order, highly regarded in Palestinian communities, continues to run schools for Palestinian girls in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Ghattas died in Jerusalem in 1927 at the age of 83.

During Sunday's ceremony, the church unveiled a portrait of Ghattas.

Pope Benedict XVI approved the beatification in July — the final step before sainthood.

On Sunday. the pope praised Ghattas for her work helping girls overcome illiteracy... READ MORE