Australia, Canada to get first saints

Australia and the Canadian province of Quebec will have their first Roman Catholic saints - a pioneering nun and a humble healer - on October 17, Pope Benedict XVI has announced.

Australia's Mary MacKillop, a nun revered for her work with needy children as much as for her rebellious streak, is already a national icon.

Australia's ambassador to the Holy See hailed the announcement, saying it was "a terrific salute to an outstanding Australian, a giant leader in education and many other fields".

Tim Fischer added: "There is a great deal of affection and respect for Mary MacKillop. Further, she was a strong leader, a compassionate worker for the poor and a pioneer in education."

In December, Pope Benedict recognised a miracle in which she apparently cured a woman of cancer, paving the way for her canonisation.

Sr MacKillop, who died in 1909, passed the first stage to sainthood when pope John Paul II beatified her in 1995 after recognising a first miracle attributed to her, in which a woman was said to have been cured of terminal leukaemia.

Melbourne-born Sr MacKillop established her first school in a disused stable and founded an order of nuns at the age of 24.

Sr MacKillop spent her life educating the poor, taking learning to the harsh outback.

But the pioneering educator and social reformer was not without controversy - she was excommunicated in 1871 for alleged insubordination before being welcomed back to the Church four months later.

Brother Andre, revered for his gifts as a healer, lived from 1845 to 1937 and his admirers built and dedicated Montreal's imposing St Joseph's Oratory to him.

Brother Andre has been credited with thousands of reported miraculous healings.

Diminutive, shy and with little education, he hardly seemed destined to become Quebec's first Catholic saint. But he reputedly could heal the sick through the laying on of hands and the use of an "inner power".