Millions in India were celebrating last Sunday (October 12) when Pope Benedict XVI conferred sainthood on their beloved Sister Alphonsa. Sister Alphonsa is only the second Indian to be canonized, but she is the first woman. Yet controversy of it has already begun to dampen the celebration.

She was born Anna Muttathupadathu and became Sister Alphonsa when she became a member of the Franciscan Clarist Convent . She is also known as Blessed Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception.

Blessed Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception

Sister Aphonsa lived in Bharananganam, Kerala and is famed for working her miracles (in particular curing illness and disease) after her death on July 28,1946. She was only 36.

She was beatified by Pope John Paul II, during his visit to Kerala in 1986, that’s 40 years after her death! Her canonisation is ahead of Mother Teresa’s who is just one miracle away from her sainthood.

Those interested can see her canonisation in pictures over at IBNLive

*canonisation is the act by which a Church declares a deceased person to be a saint, inscribing that person in the canon, or list, of recognized saints

**beatification is a recognition accorded by the church of a dead person’s accession to Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name