A nun from Derry has moved a step closer to sainthood.
Clare Crockett (33) from Brandywell was killed in an earthquake in Ecuador in April 2016. The building where she had been teaching music collapsed.
She was a larger-than-life character who had been an actress before choosing the religious life.
She turned down a chance to present on children’s TV channel Nickelodeon to become a nun.
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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 took place in the Cathedral of Alcala de Henares in Madrid on Sunday.
The ceremony is the first step towards sainthood.
Her sister Shauna Gill said more than 100 people travelled to Madrid for the event, which was live-streamed online and at Brunswick Moviebowl in Derry. The group includes friends, family, priests and Derry Bishop Donal McKeown.
Ms Gill said the family is “very proud and excited”.
She said “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.”
Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland Eamon Martin said in a statement that Sr Clare’s story is an “inspiration for young people”, adding that it was a “very special day” for her family and the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother order.
Sr Clare was a self-confessed party girl earlier in her life and had ambitions to become a famous actress, before changing direction after having a religious experience during a retreat around Good Friday in 2000.
– PA
