Unless Pope Francis decides to canonise one or more of the 158 English and Welsh martyrs beatified by his predecessors, but never raised to the altars, there is a strong chance that the next English saint will be a woman.
The likelihood of this will increase when the Holy Father, any time soon, declares Mother Elizabeth Prout, the so-called “Mother Teresa of Manchester”, Venerable.
This imminent development follows the conclusions of Vatican theologians earlier this year that Mother Elizabeth, who died in 1864, lived a life of heroic virtue.
