PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Blessed Carlo Acutis will become the Catholic Church’s first Millennial saint when he is canonized on April 27, and another member of that generation is also on the same path.

Efforts are underway to get Sister Clare Crockett, an Irish nun who died at the age of 33 during an earthquake in Ecuador in 2016, on the road to sainthood. 

Sister Clare, who grew up in Derry in Northern Ireland and gave up a promising acting career to join the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother in 2001, would be the first Irish person in 50 years to attain sainthood. 

The last Irish saint was Oliver Plunkett (1625-1681), the archbishop of Ireland who was martyred for his Catholic faith and executed. He was canonized in 1975 by Pope Paul VI.

It would be a great day for the Irish if Sister Clare is named a saint, said Father Andrew Black, administrator of the Parish of NewtownArds and Comber in Northern Ireland.

“People are really interested in her story, but also the fact that we could claim one of our own as a saint would be a huge confidence boost to the Catholic Church,” he said. 

As a first step, the Diocese of Alcala de Henares in Spain — where the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother are headquartered — opened a cause for beatification, and she was bestowed with the Servant of God title on Jan. 12.

The road to sainthood has four steps: Servant of God, Venerable, beatification, and canonization.

Now, a tribunal will investigate Sister Clare’s life to determine if she lived one worthy of sainthood. The investigation will include examining her writings and interviewing dozens of witnesses who knew her. 

The fact that Sister Clare died less than a decade ago makes the investigation somewhat more uncomplicated, said Sister Kristen Gardner of the Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother, who is the postulator (or leader) of the cause for beatification. 

“It makes it easier in the sense that most of the witnesses are still alive and that they have all the information fresh in their mind,” Sister Kristen said. 

Clare Crockett was born in Derry on Nov. 14, 1982. She took an early interest in acting and signed on with a talent agency at the age of 14. She quickly found success, working in both television and the theater. She landed a small part in the movie “Sunday,” about the events of 1972’s Bloody Sunday, when British soldiers fired into crowds of demonstrators in Derry and killed 14 people.

She was also a self-professed “wild child” during her teenage years. 

“She certainly was no saint when we were growing up,” said her younger sister, Shauna Gill, adding that Clare loved to smoke and go out drinking with her friends. 

“She was dramatic. She wanted to see her name up in lights,” Gill added.

Clare’s life took a turn at the age of 16 when she attended a religious retreat in Spain. Gill recalled that the “funny thing” about that was Clare thought she was going on a vacation. 

“A friend told her, ‘I’ve got tickets to Spain. Do you want to go?’ And she went,” Gill said.

While others were attending religious gatherings during the retreat, Clare spent her time working on her tan and smoking. However, on Good Friday, she decided to attend a prayer service and touched the feet of a statue of Jesus, “and that was that,” Gill said.

When she returned from the retreat, she announced to her family that she felt a call from God to become a nun.

“We didn’t take her seriously,” said her youngest sister, Megan Nicell. “We thought she would go live in a convent for a while then change her mind and come home.”

Clare entered a convent in Spain at the age of 18 and began her spiritual journey.

Gill recalled one time when Clare returned home during her discernment to attend a relative’s funeral and seemed different, exhibiting a more serious manner. 

“We knew then that she was on her way,” she said. 

Her earlier work on Irish television drew the attention of Nickelodeon producers, who offered her a job. But at that point, she was a novice nun and turned them down.

She professed her perpetual vows in 2010 and became a Servant Sister of the Home of the Mother. She served in Spain, the United States, and Ecuador, teaching, conducting missionary outreach, and working with hospital patients.

“She had such a gift for she was a very people person,” Sister Kristen said. “She connected with people. It didn’t matter if you were shy or outgoing. She got along with everyone and made them feel loved for who they were.”

It was while Sister Clare was serving in Ecuador that tragedy struck. On April 16, 2016, she was killed when the house she was staying in collapsed because of a 7.8 magnitude earthquake. Her body was found under the rubble 12 hours later.

Sister Clare’s remains were returned to Northern Ireland, and she was buried in Derry City Cemetery beside her parents — mother Margaret, who died in 2019, and father Gerald, who passed away in 2022.

“Her grave in Derry is a bit of a pilgrimage site, especially for young adult Catholics,” Father Black said. “People who are starting off their careers see something familiar in her.”

Sister Kristen noted that because Sister Clare was a Millennial, she could help draw members of that generation and Gen Z to the Church.

“People really do identify with her. Young people can say, ‘She lived a life just like me,’ ” she said. “She wanted to go to Hollywood. She would go out to the bars and get drunk. She loved to party. They feel that she lived the same, like they did.”

Nicell said Sister Clare’s family is grateful for the support the cause of beatification is getting.

“We’ve heard from people all over the world who tell us how much she means to them and how they would love to see her become a saint,”  she said.  “That means a lot to us.”