An Italian nun who was stabbed 19 times more than two decades ago by three teenage girls apparently fascinated by Satan was honoured on June 6 with beatification as a martyr of the Catholic Church. Hours before the beatification ceremony in northern Italy, Pope Francis praised Sister Maria Laura Mainetti and described her killers as “prisoners of evil.” Beatification is the last formal step in the Catholic Church before possible sainthood. Italian news reports about the June 6, 2000 slaying in the town of Chiavenna said the defendants during interrogation recounted that the nun asked God to forgive her attackers even as they assaulted her.
After serving sentences ranging from 8 1/2 to 12 years and four months, the convicted attackers were released from prison. Two were age 16 and the other was 17 when the Catholic nun was slain. They were prosecuted as minors. Addressing the faithful in St. Peter’s Square during his traditional Sunday remarks, Francis spoke of the beatification, saying Mainetti, who belonged to the religious congre-gation of the Daughters of the Cross, was slain “by three girls influenced by a satanic sect. Cruelty.”