A nun from Northern Ireland who died in an earthquake while teaching music in Ecuador has moved one step closer to becoming a saint.
Sunday afternoon's ceremony began the beatification process for Claire Crockett, who died in the April 2016 earthquake in Porto Viejo, Ecuador. Crockett, 33, was working in the country as part of her work as a nun. He has also held jobs in Spain and the United States.
Mr Crockett, from Brandywell, Derry, was an actor before entering the Order. Before quitting the acting profession, she had the opportunity to become a presenter on the children's television channel “Nickelodeon”.
According to testimony she wrote before her death, she considered herself a party girl as a teenager. Her calling came during a Good Friday retreat in Spain in 2000. Crockett eventually received holy orders in 2001 with the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother order.
More than 100 people traveled to Madrid on Sunday for the opening of a beautification campaign at the Cathedral of Alcalá de Henares. The ceremony was streamed at the Brunswick Movie Bowl in her hometown. About 1,000 people were expected to attend the service.
Her sister Shona Gill told the PA news agency that the group who traveled to Spain included friends, family, priests and the Bishop of Derry, Donal McCune.
Gill said her family is “very proud and excited.” “There are people here that I've never met before, so it's an amazing experience,” she said, adding that her sister will be declared a “servant of God” during the ceremony.
“There are four steps to becoming a saint, so this is the first step,” she said. “Claire's life is going to be investigated before we move on. You never know how long it's going to take, whether it's 10 years, 20 years, two years. It just depends on how quickly things move on. It depends on.
“None of us have ever experienced anything like this in our lifetimes, so no one knows what will happen or what will happen.”
The next step in the process will be the designation of “Venerable,” “Blessed,” and finally “Saint.” If all these formalities go through, Mr. McCune said, Mr. Crockett would become the region's first saint of the 21st century, adding: “She ended up becoming famous posthumously.”
The bishop said there was a party atmosphere among the group in Madrid. “The people of Delhi are very proud of her,” he said. “People of all ages and backgrounds come from all over the world.”
