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February
6, 2006
VOL.
44, NO. 3Oakland,
CA
‘Miracle’
healing advances the cause
of sainthood for Pope John Paul II
VATICAN CITY
-- The leading advocate for John Paul II’s sainthood has identified
the mysterious recovery of a French nun from Parkinson’s disease
as the potential miracle that could advance the late pope’s candidacy.
In an interview with Italian state radio on Jan. 29, Monsignor Slawomir
Oder, the “postulator” or lead advocate of John Paul’s
cause, said he has focused his investigation on the case of a French nun
who “had been cured of a sickness, a sickness that became very visible
in the final phase of John Paul’s life.”
In his final years, John Paul struggled publicly with a debilitating case
of Parkinson’s that caused him to lose muscular control and slur
his speech.
Msgr. Oder declined to name the nun, but identified her as a health care
worker in a maternity ward at a French hospital.
Msgr. Oder described the nun as someone “who had dedicated her life
to the care of newborns” and prayed to John Paul to intercede “in
a situation that had rendered her unable to perform” her job.
“She was healed from the illness,” he said.
John Paul has been on the fast track to sainthood ever since May when
Pope Benedict XVI lifted the five-year waiting period that traditionally
must pass before the Vatican reviews a candidate.
John Paul needs one miracle to reach beatification, the last step before
sainthood, and a second miracle to reach canonization -- the process by
which the Vatican “declares” someone a saint. Inexplicable
medical healings are the most common form of modern miracles accepted
by the Vatican.
Msgr. Oder, who has been officially guiding the sainthood campaign since
it formally began in late June, indicated that the French nun’s
case was chosen from a wide field of testimony that the Vatican has received
by e-mail.
