Bhopal/Indore: Kerala-born nun Rani Maria Vattali, who was stabbed to death in 1995 in Madhya Pradesh, was on Saturday declared "Blessed", a sacred title in the Roman Catholic Church order.
The nun's killer, Samunder Singh, also attended the ceremony.
The Vatican's head of the Department for Cause of Saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato, bestowed the honour on Vattali, popularly known as Sister Rani. "Blessed" is a stage below sainthood.
Cardinal Amato read out the apostolic (pope's) letter declaring her "Blessed" in Latin at a holy mass at the Saint Paul Higher Secondary School's ground in Indore.
Besides Sister Rani's family, the country's four cardinals - Mar Baselios Cleemis (president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India), Mar George Alencherry (of the Syro-Malabar Church), Oswald Gracias (the Archbishop of Bombay) and Telesphore Toppo (the Archbishop of Ranchi) - were present at the ceremony.
Cardinal Alencherry read out the letter of Pope Francis in English, while Cardinal Toppo did so in Hindi at the mass presided over by Cardinal Amato.
Sister Rani, then 41, was stabbed about 50 times in a bus on February 25, 1995. The attacker, Singh, had been hired to kill the nun as some landlords in Indore were allegedly upset with her work for the uplift of landless people.
Singh was sentenced to life imprisonment, which was later commuted because of his good conduct. He was also pardoned by Sister Rani's family.
At the ceremony, Singh recalled his crime: "At that time, I was in the grip of evil spirits because of which I did that job. Now, I do not want to say anything on the issue."
Singh, released from jail in 2006, added: "My life has changed. Now everyone in this world is part of my family. Sister Selmi (Sister Rani's sibling) and her relatives too are my family and their affection and love have totally changed my life."
Selmi said she was "overwhelmed" by the declaration, adding she would walk the path shown by her sister.
"The Blessed title is considered a prelude to the beatification of sainthood, as was the case with Mother Teresa," the public relations officer of the Madhya Pradesh Catholic Church, Father Maria Stephen, said.
Sister Rani was born to Paili and Elisha on January 29, 1954, at Pulluvazhy in Kerala. She took her first vows in 1974. PTI
