Mother Marianne Becomes an American Saint

The Pope canonized seven saints on Sunday. CNN has a nice write-up on Saint Marianne Cope’s canonization and her work in Hawaii.

Even before she came to the islands, Cope established herself as a pioneer in hospital administration — instituting cleanliness standards and turning decrepit facilities around.

She came to Hawaii in 1883 and established the first general hospital on Maui. The endeavor was so successful that King Kalakaua honored her with a medal of the Royal Order of Kapiolani. She turned around another failing hospital in Honolulu full of Hansen’s Disease patients, but before long its inhabitants were banished to Molokai. Cope went with them.

Read the full story.