Blessed Alphonsa canonized by Pope Benedict, becomes India's first woman saint

She is the second saint from India to be canonized, after Gonsalo Garcia Portuguese parentage, who was canonized in 1862.

Mother Teresa, the Albanian-born nun who worked with the poor and destitute in India, was beatified in 2003 and is on the road to sainthood.

Other Indians also on the road to sainthood are Blessed Joseph Vaz of Goa, who worked in Sri Lanka, and Blessed Kuriakose Elias Chavara, who was beatified along with Blessed Alphonsa.

Others who were canonized included the Ecuadorian Narcisa de Jesus Martillo Moran (1832-1869), Swiss nun Maria Bernarda Buetler (1848-1924), a missionary in Colombia and Italian Gaetano Errico (1791-1860) from Secondigliano, in the Naples region.

Sr. Alfonsa's canonization is significant for it comes at a time when India's Christian community, making up little more than two percent of the country's population, has felt particularly threatened in recent months.

For instance, in Kandhamal, Orissa, thousands of Christians are being ruthlessly being persecuted for holding onto their faith. Since August, over 50 Christians have been killed by Hindu fundamentalists who accuse them of murdering one of their religious leaders and forcefully converting innocent Hindu villagers, allegations which Christian groups vehemently deny.