Pope Francis will canonise four nuns in May, the pontiff announced on Saturday. 

The women - Maria Cristina dell'Immacolata, Jeanne Emilie de Villeneuve, Mariam Baouardi, and Marie-Alphonsine Ghattas - each founded orders two centuries ago. 

Mother Maria Cristina lived from 1856 to 1906, and founded the Sisters Expiatory Victims of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament in Naples, Italy. Known for her devotion to the Eucharist, she was beatified by John Paul II in 2003.

Emilie was born in France in 1811, and founded the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of Castres in 1836. She passed away 18 years later from cholera, and was beatified in 2009.

Blessed Mariam Baouardi of Palestine was born in 1846, and was said to have experienced stigmata, levitation, and other supernatural events. She helped found a monastery in Bethlehem and a Carmelite Order in Mongalore, India.  She died at the age of 33, and was beatified in 1983.

Another Palestinian nun, Blessed Marie-Alphonsine Ghattas (1843-1927), founded the Dominican Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary of Jerusalem, and a school for girls in Beit Sahour. She was beatified in 2009 by Cardinal Angelo Amato on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI.

All of the women have had two miracles performed through their intercession - a requirement for canonisation that is at times waived. 

Pope Francis has canonised 17 saints during his papacy, which began in March 2013. Pope Saint John Paul II canonised a record 110 saints during his 26-year papacy.