Vatican City, Nov 12, 2025 / 16:24 pm

Pope Leo XIV spoke of the beatification this week of Mother Elisva Vakha’i, a 19th-century Indian religious and founder of the Third Order of the Teresian Discalced Carmelites, highlighting her “courageous commitment to the emancipation of the poorest girls.”

“The witness of Mother Elisva Vakha’i,” the pope affirmed during his greetings in Italian at the end of his general audience on Nov. 12, “is a source of inspiration for all who work in the Church and in society for the dignity of women.”

The beatification ceremony on Nov. 8 was held in the square in front of the Basilica-Shrine of Our Lady of Ransom in Vallarpadam, Kochi, in the Indian state of Kerala, and was presided over by Cardinal Sebastian Francis, bishop of Penang, Malaysia.

Before th

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