Vatican may have found Pope John Paul’s “miracle”

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY, Jan 30 (Reuters) – The Vatican may have found
the “miracle” they need to put the late Pope John Paul one step
closer to sainthood — the medically inexplicable healing of a
French nun with the same Parkinson’s disease that afflicted
him.

Monsignor Slawomir Oder, the Catholic Church official in
charge of promoting the cause to declare the late Pope a saint
of the Church, told Reuters on Monday that an investigation
into the healing had cleared an initial probe by doctors.

Oder said the “relatively young” nun, whom he said he could
not identify for now, was inexplicably cured of Parkinson’s
after praying to John Paul after his death last April 2.

“I was moved,” Oder said in a telephone interview. “To
think that this was the same illness that destroyed the Holy
Father and it also kept this poor nun from carrying out her
work.”

John Paul suffered from Parkinson’s Disease during the last
decade of his life. His body trembled violently and he could
not pronounce his words or control his facial muscles.

“To me, this is another sign of God’s creativity,” he said,
adding that the nun worked with children.

He said Church investigators would now start a more formal
and detailed probe of the suspected miracle cure.

The process that could lead to sainthood for John Paul
began in May when Rome archdiocese published an edict asking
Catholics to come forward with evidence “in favor or against”
John Paul’s reputation of holiness.

One proven miracle is required after John Paul’s death for
the cause to lead to beatification.

It must be the result of prayers asking the dead Pope to
intercede with God. Miracles are usually a physical healing
that doctors are at a loss to explain.

Another miracle would be necessary between beatification
and eventual sainthood.

Oder said his office had received many messages from
faithful around the world claiming that they had got what they
wanted after having prayed to John Paul after he died.

MANY MIRACLES

He said his office had also received many letters and
e-mails from people claiming they had been miraculously cured
or otherwise helped with a serious problem after praying to the
Pope even while he was alive.

But under Church rules, only those “miracles” which
occurred after the Pope’s death can be investigated and
eventually used as proof of holiness.

The month after John Paul died, Pope Benedict dispensed
with Church rules and put him on the fast track to sainthood.

Benedict waived rules that impose a five-year waiting
period after a candidate’s death before the procedure that
leads to sainthood can start.

The quick start means John Paul could be beatified and so
declared a “blessed of the Church” within a few years if a
miracle can be attributed to his intercession with God.

The crowds at John Paul’s funeral on April 8 chanted “Santo
Subito” (Make him a saint now!).

Oder said he and other members of the investigating team
were convinced that John Paul “is already a saint” but he could
not say how long the bureaucratic procedure could take.

In past centuries, the saint-making procedure has often
been long and expensive but many Catholics believe that John
Paul’s life of suffering and service was clear to all.

Many of the people who knew or worked with John Paul are
alive. This could speed up the case significantly because
witnesses would be readily available to testify.