Ireland's first beatification ceremony for the late Jesuit priest Fr John Sullivan took place in Dublin this morning.
The ecumenical event was held in St Francis Xavier's Church on Gardiner Street with principal celebrant Cardinal Angelo Amato, and the assistance of Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin.
Ireland's first beatification ceremony taking place in Dublin: Jesuit priest Fr John Sullivan pic.twitter.com/YdGW6QdUeN
— Sandra Hurley (@sandra_hurley) May 13, 2017
Fr Sullivan spent most of his priestly life at Clongowes Wood college in Kildare. He died in 1933.
In 1960, he was declared a Servant of God.
He was declared 'venerable' by Pope Francis in 2014 and last year a decree was approved authenticating a miracle attributed to him.
Today's ceremony consisted of a mass during which the formal request for beatification was made together by the Church of Ireland and the Catholic Archbishops.
This reflects the fact Fr John was an Anglican for the first half of his life and a Roman Catholic for the second.
In Portugal, two young children who had visions of the Virgin Mary 100 years ago in Fatima have been declared saints by Pope Francis.
Separately, Pope Francis has appointed a 60-year-old Nigerian, Archbishop Jude Thaddeus Okolo, as the new Papal Nuncio to Ireland.
Archbishop Okolo will become the first African to occupy the post.
It is expected he will arrive during the summer, a little over a year ahead of an expected visit to Ireland by the Pontiff.
The archbishop's previous postings include Nuncio to the troubled Central African Republic and Chad from 2008 to 2013, and more recently he was Nuncio to the Dominican Republic while simultaneously Apostolic Delegate to Puerto Rico.
