Family ‘proud’ as Derry nun on path to sainthood
By Cillian Sherlock, PA
A nun from Northern Ireland will be a step closer to sainthood on Sunday following a special ceremony in Spain.
Clare Crockett, 33, from Londonderry, was killed in an earthquake in Ecuador in April 2016.
The building where she had been teaching music collapsed.
Ms Crockett, from Brandywell in Derry, was a larger-than-life character who had been an actor before choosing the religious life.
She turned down a chance to present on children’s TV channel Nickelodeon to become a nun.
She said friends were in disbelief when she declared she was going to be a nun while holding a “beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other”.
She ultimately took her Holy Orders with the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother order.
Her motto in life was “all or nothing” and she has previously been associated with fertility miracles.
The opening of the cause for the beatification of Sister Clare is scheduled to take place in the Cathedral of Alcala de Henares in Madrid at 5.30pm local time (4.30pm UK and Ireland time).
The ceremony is the first step towards sainthood.
Ms Crockett’s sister Shauna Gill told the PA news agency that more than 100 people have travelled to Madrid for the event, which will be livestreamed online and at the Brunswick Moviebowl in Derry.
She said the group includes friends, family, priests and Derry Bishop Donal McKeown, adding: “There’s people we’ve never met before here too so it’s a great experience.”
Ms Gill said the family is “very proud and excited”.
She said the ceremony will see her sister declared as a “servant of God”.
“There’s four steps to becoming a saint, so this is the first one.
“Clare’s life will be investigated before we can move on.
“No one knows how long it can take, 10 years, 20 years, two years, it depends on how fast things move.
“Nobody has been through this in our lifetime, so nobody knows what to expect or what’s going to happen.”
Ms Gill said approximately 1,000 people are expected to attend the ceremony.
