The Australian government has placed a ban on businesses using the name of the country's first saint in an attempt to prevent them cashing in on the late Catholic nun's growing celebrity.

The move, which will dismay scores of small businesses that had been hoping to capitalise on an influx of Catholic pilgrims, comes as Mary Mackillop-mania takes hold across Australia in the lead up to her canonisation by the Pope this weekend.

Julia Gillard, the prime minister, announced on Monday that companies would be banned from using names associated with Mackillop unless they had sought special government approval....