Exhumation, identification process under way for Mother Marianne Cope

Published: 2005-01-25

HONOLULU (CNS) -- In preparation for her upcoming beatification, the process of exhuming Mother Marianne Cope's body began Jan. 24. Mother Marianne, a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of Syracuse, N.Y., ministered to people with leprosy -- now called Hansen's disease -- in Hawaii. On Dec. 20 the Vatican approved a miracle attributed to her intercession, clearing the way for her beatification. Although a date has not yet been set for her beatification, the first stage in the process is exhuming the body and identifying it. The procedure was expected to take three days. Forensic anthropologist Vincent Sava, a member of St. Jude Parish in Kapolei, was leading the forensics team exhuming the body of the sainthood candidate in Kalaupapa, on the island of Molokai. Sava, a manager at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command Central Identification Laboratory in Honolulu, volunteered to do the exhumation as "a private citizen," he said.

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