Great pride and excitement as Derry's Sr Clare Crockett declared a 'Servant of God'

The local became international at Derry’s Brunswick Moviebowl in Pennyburn as almost 500 people arrived to watch Sr Clare Crockett be declared a ‘Servant of God’.

Sr Clare died on April 16, 2016, when the house in which she lived in Ecuador collapsed as a result of an earthquake; she was 33 years old. 

Full cinema @MoviebowlDerry this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/c4UIXPYGJQ

— Catherine McGinty (@CathMcGin_Tea) January 12, 2025

Sunday afternoon’s ceremony, presided over by His Excellency, Antonio Prieto Lucena, Bishop of the Diocese of Alcala de Henares, was live-streamed from the Cathedral of Alcala de Henares in Madrid in Spain.

In the Catholic Church ‘Servant of God’ is the title given to a candidate for sainthood whose cause is under investigation, prior to being declared Venerable. Venerable is the title given to a candidate for sainthood whose cause has not yet reached the beatification stage but whose virtue has been declared by the Pope.

Sister Clare’s family and friends were accompanied at the ceremony by the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother, Bishop Dónal McKeown, Bishop of Derry; Fr Stephen Quinn, OCD Termonbacca and Fr Gerard Mongan Adm, Long Tower. 

Speaking to the Derry News before she went into the screening, Carmel Moore, said she prayed to Sr Clare every day.

“I was very, very sick five years ago in hospital. My daughter asked me where Sr Clare’s grave was and she went there and prayed I would get better. I said, ‘Sr Clare won’t let me down’. 

“She helped me get better, that is why I am here today. Today is fantastic. She is going to be a saint. She wanted to be famous and now she is famous . She is all over the world today. My daughter and her friends are all out in Spain.”

Kathleen McConomy said she was delighted Sr Clare was being declared a ‘Servant of God’. It is great to be a wee part of history here today. I have a great devotion to Sr Clare. Every prayer I have asked her has been answered. No matter what happens in my life, she is the first person I turn to. She will 100% become a saint.”

Mary Doherty said she was at the screening because she had “great faith” in Sr Clare. 

“She was in the same class as my son in the Nazareth House primary school. I think this is fantastic.”

Marie Healey said her sister and my cousin were over in Spain - Janet Kerr and Mary McGavigan.  

“I think this is absolutely fabulous. We are so excited. We know of Sr Clare and my cousin, Mary, lived next door to her; they were best friends from when they were young.”

Charlie Hope, the assistant manager of Brunswick Moviebowl said there had been a great interest from the people of Derry in seeing the proceedings in Spain.

He added: “We put on one screen initially hoping people would turn up and it just snowballed from there. More and more people bought the tickets and we were at 300 in a few days’ time. Before we knew it, we had to put on a second screen and 180 people showed up for the second screen. We were at maximum capacity for both screens. 

“We are not shocked because Derry people love Derry people. They are out to support one of their own. People seemed to have a great sense of pride that it was a local person and it is a great local cause,” said Mr Hope.

Sr Clare’s religious order, The Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother was constituted as the petitioner of the cause in which Sr Kristen Gardner, Servant Sister of the Home of the Mother, was named postulator.

At the ceremony, Sr Kristen Gardner read the formal request from September 2021 to the Bishop the opening of the diocesan process, which has now taken place.

Sr Kristen said the community allowed Sister Clare to be buried in her hometown “with the firm conviction that Sister Clare is on a special mission to evangelise her native country after her death”.

She added: “However, it did not end there. The surprise was to discover that Sister Claire, after her death, did not only have the mission to evangelise Ireland, but the whole world. The community received messages and mails from more than 50 countries and they’re still arriving five years later.”

Praying for our Derry girl today, our Derry saint

I didn’t know too much about Sr Clare until Kevin was sick but I will be forever grateful for the comfort I got and Kevin finally getting the all clear

My house has never not had Sr Clare’s presence since

All or nothing ❤️ pic.twitter.com/WiQSAYTJPT

— Sandra Duffy (@SandraDuffySF) January 12, 2025

"A common note in the messages they received is that many describe Sister Clare as their friend.Even without having met her, she is their friend,” said Sr Kristen.

Sr Clare’s sister, Shauna Gill described Sunday’s ceremony as “a wee bit surreal”.

“I don’t think we will be able to take it in until we get home. It was the most beautiful day. We were lucky to be able to come here and experience it with more than 100 people from Derry. It was a beautiful ceremony.

“After Sr Clare was declared a ‘Servant of God’ we had a Mass in English. We then went back to the Cathedral where people told us their testimonies about Sr Clare; it was absolutely beautiful.”

Speaking after the ceremony, Bishop McKeown said it had meant a lot to the people of Derry.

“They felt this was one of our wee girls and I supposed having Shauna and Megan, her two blood sisters and nephews and nieces there as well was very real,” he said.

“I think it was very real for her own two sisters, for Shauna and Megan to realise this is actually a world figure, this wee sister of ours that we grew up with, who  bossed us around the house, who wanted to be an actress, who played fun and games.”