POPE BEATIFIES CROATIAN NUN IN SOUTHERN CITY

DUBROVNIK, June 6 (Hina) - Pope John Paul II on Friday beatified the servant of God Mary of Jesus Crucified Petkovic during Mass in the Gruz Port, Dubrovnik. #L# "Fulfilling the wish of our brother, Dubrovnik Bishop Zelimir Puljic, and numerous other brothers in the diocese and the faithful, after considering the opinion of the Beatification Corps, by our apostolic powers, we allow that the servant of God Mary of Jesus Crucified Petkovic from now on be called blessed and that as of this year, the anniversary of her death, July 9, be celebrated as her day, as determined by the Canon regulations. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit," said the Holy Father beatifying Mary of Jesus Crucified Petkovic. After the beatification ceremony, the painting of the Servant of God Mary of Jesus Crucified Petkovic at the altar in the Gruz Port was unveiled. Marija Petkovic Kovac was born in Blato on the island of Korcula on December 10, 1892 as her father Antun's eighth and her mother Marija's, maiden Marinovic, sixth child. Antun married Marija after the death of his first wife, who had left him their two daughters. The family Petkovic Kovac belonged to the higher class and had about 750 day-labourers working for them. On Annunciation, on 25 March 1919, Marija and five more young girls from Blato and Vela Luka under the guidance of a local bishop started the work which later on led to the establishment of a new religious community in Blato, called the Community Daughters Of Charity. The community was officially set up on October 4, 1920. It cared for impoverished in Croatia and South America. In 1956 the Community became an entity of the Papal Law. Only two years after that, in 1958, when she was 62, Marija suffered a cerebral haemorrhage which left her partly paralysed. She died on July 9,1966 Marija of Jesus Crucified Petkovic was know for helping the most needy.