Pope Names 5 Saints, Including Lebanese Nun

Pope John Paul II appealed for peace in the Middle East as he elevated five people to sainthood, including Sister Rafqa of the Lebanese Maronite Antonine Order, Lebanon’s first female saint.

Thousands of Christians flocked to Sister Rafqa’s tomb at a monastery in Jrebta, in the hills of northern Lebanon. She died in 1914.

Also canonized were the Rev. Luigi Scrosoppi, founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Providence of St. Gaetano of Thiene; the Rev. Agostino Roscelli, founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of Genoa; Bernardo da Corleone, of the Minor Order of Capuchin Friars; and Sister Teresa Eustochio Verzeri, founder of the Institute of the Daughters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.