Updated

Tens of thousands of people have gathered in Nyeri in central Kenya to attend the beatification ceremony of an Italian nun who worked for many years in the East African nation.

Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper reported Saturday that up to 100,000 people from all over the world were in Nyeri Saturday to witness the ceremony at Dedan Kimathi University in which Sister Irene Stefani was declared "Blessed Irene."

Millions more watched the event live on television, according to the newspaper.

Stefani, who belonged to the Consolata Missionary Sisters, first came to Kenya in 1915 and died there in 1930 at the age of 39, according to a website dedicated to her beatification.