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Many readers will rejoice - fittingly on this Gaudete Sunday - to learn that last Thursday, 10 December 2009, the Cause of Beatification of the Servant of God Zita, last Empress of Austria and wife of Blessed Emperor Charles, was solemnly opened by His Excellency Msgr. Yves Le Saux, Bishop of Le Mans, France. The process was opened in Le Mans, and not in the Swiss diocese of Chur, where the Empress died 20 years ago in 1989 in Zizers, with the consent of Msgr. Huonder, the Bishop of Chur, and the permission of the Congregation for the Causes of...

Spare Me The Beatification of Teddy Kennedy By Adrian Michaels August 26th, 2009 I know it’s August but the television has been wall-to-wall Teddy Kennedy today. And I live in the UK. I can’t imagine how tiring the coverage must be in the States. The death of a longstanding public servant is certainly a moment worth noting. The senator was also, I grant, part of a very famous family. Some in Britain might miss that the Kennedys are as close to royalty as America gets. But Teddy Kennedy is not deserving of these tearful invocations to saintliness. He was a...

The cause for beatification of Pope John Paul II has moved a step forward, according to a report by Andrea Tornielli of the Italian daily newspaper Il Giornale. Tornielli-- who has accurately predicted several recent developments inside the Vatican-- says that theological consultors working with the Congregation for the Causes of Saints have delivered a positive verdict on the positio, the full case in favor of a pronouncement that the life of John Paul II was marked by "heroic virtue." The positio will now be forwarded to the full Congregation for the Causes of Saints for a vote later this...

Pope John Paul II’s closest aide is strongly criticizing Dr. Wanda Poltawska over her decision to publish five decades’ worth of private correspondence with the late Pontiff. Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow says that Dr. Poltawska-- a psychiatrist and concentration camp survivor-- is claiming “a special relationship where none existed” and that many others corresponded privately with Pope John Paul. Father Adam Boniecki, former editor of the Polish edition of L’Osservatore Romano, countered that Pope John Paul and Dr. Poltawska had a strong relationship, like that of a brother and sister-- akin to that of St. Francis de Sales and...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The beatification of Pope John Paul II may be delayed as the Vatican seeks more documentation regarding his almost 27 years as pope, Italian newspapers reported in late May. According to the newspaper La Stampa, the chief holdup regards hundreds of letters he wrote before and after his election to Wanda Poltawska, a longtime friend and adviser to the pope. Meanwhile, the newspaper Il Giornale, reported that a commission of theologians meeting in mid-May decided the information contained in the official "positio," or position paper, was not complete enough. In particular, the newspaper cited the fact...

Archbishop Fulton Sheen Peoria, Ill., Apr 24, 2009 / 03:46 am (CNA).- The famous Catholic evangelist Archbishop Fulton Sheen's reputation for holiness and his impact on Catholics and non-Catholics alike has led to his cause for beatification being opened. Bill Engelbrecht, a member of the Archbishop Sheen Foundation’s board of directors, told CNA recently that the cause is progressing “quite well.”The foundation, Engelbrecht explained, is kept informed of the beatification cause’s progress in Rome, and it is “on track.” “The process is lengthy and it is undetermined. It can take from a few years to a few hundred years. It’s...

A forensic archaeologist has raised fresh questions over why no remains were found in the grave of an English cardinal in line to become a saint.It comes just days before artefacts owned by Cardinal John Henry Newman go on display ahead of his possible beatification.Tens of thousands of mourners lined the streets of Birmingham in 1890 as Cardinal John Henry Newman's body was carried eight miles to its final resting place. Some 118 years later the Vatican ordered his remains be dug up. Roman Catholic leaders in Birmingham were asked to exhume his body by the Vatican as part of...

Group says pope will weigh delay of Pius's beatification By Rachel Donadio VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI told Jewish leaders on Thursday that he was "seriously considering" delaying the beatification of Pius XII, the pope during World War II, until the archives of his papacy had been opened, a participant at the meeting said. But the pope's spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Benedict's response was not a "public commitment," according to The Associated Press. "You shouldn't read this response for beyond what it is," Father Lombardi said. "It is a polite, serious response. He always takes seriously what he...

Vatican fumes at Israeli minister's remarks on Nazi-era pope By Adi Schwartz, Haaretz Correspondent and Staff Vatican officials are furious over Minister Isaac Herzog's statement in Thursday's Haaretz that the planned beatification of Pope Pius XII, who headed the Catholic Church during the Holocaust, is "unacceptable." Cardinal Andrea Lanza di Montezemolo told the Italian paper Corriere della Serra yesterday that "Israel's interference in the matter of Pius XII must stop. We've had it with this interference. Outside opinions are liable to disrupt [the process], and they look like an attempt to force Pope Benedict XVI to make a decision. The...

Saintly Role Models for Parents: St. Therese’s Parents to be Beatified August 13th, 2008 by Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur St. Thérèse of Lisieux wrote of her parents, “God gave me a father and mother more worthy of Heaven than of earth.” Over a century later, the Catholic Church will officially confirm what St. Thérèse already knew. On July 11, 2008, it was announced that Louis and Zelie (Guerin) Martin would be beatified on Mission Sunday, October 19, 2008. They will become the first married couple to be beatified in the history of the Church. As such, they are saintly role models for married...

Maria Mercedes with her mother Santiago, Aug 1, 2008 / 10:23 am (CNA).- Maria Mercedes Correa Maldonado, a 23 year-old Chilean woman who in explicably “woke up” from cerebral palsy when she was 18, is now pregnant, in what could be the second miracle attributed to Italian seminarian Nicola D’Onofrio (1943-1964), whose cause of beatification is open in the Diocese of Rome.Maria Mercedes suffered from grave cerebral palsy but on a March afternoon on 2003, after her mother had incessantly prayed to the Italian seminarian for his intercession, she woke up in her hospital bed in Puataendo, sat up...

LONDON (CNS) -- Catholic officials have applied for permission to exhume the body of a 19th-century cardinal whose cause for sainthood is expected to soon progress to beatification. They want to transfer the remains of Cardinal John Henry Newman from a grave in a small cemetery in the suburbs of Birmingham, England, to a marble sarcophagus in a church in the city where they can be venerated by pilgrims. A July 14 statement said that the Archdiocese of Birmingham was now in direct contact with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, Sir Suma Chakrabarti, to obtain the necessary...

BEIRUT: Miraculous, perhaps. Tens of thousands of Lebanese gathered in Martyrs Square in Downtown Beirut on Sunday to witness the beatification of Yaaqoub Haddad, the late Capuchin priest who gained fame for his prolific work in founding an order of nuns, expanding the Capuchin school network and conceiving or establishing a number of religious and social institutions, some of which have gained iconic status in Lebanon. Haddad, who died more than 50 years ago, took a step toward sainthood in the first beatification ever to take place outside the Vatican - and people flocked to the capital to observe the...

Krakow, May. 21, 2008 (CWNews.com) - A Polish newspaper has predicted that the beatification of Pope John Paul II will take place next year. Zycie Warszawy speculates that the late Pontiff could be beatified on April 2, the anniversary of his death, or on October 16, 2009, the anniversary of his election to the papacy. Earlier this month another Polish newspaer, Dziennik, had said that the beatification could take place on October 16 of this year, the 30th anniversary of John Paul's election. That prediction appeared unrealistic, since the cause for beatification of the late Pontiff still has several hurdles...

Cardinal John Henry Newman Vatican City, Apr 23, 2008 / 03:12 am (CNA).- The Vatican has approved the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman, the English convert and theologian who has had immense influence upon English-speaking Catholicism, the Birmingham Mail reports.John Henry Newman was born in 1801.  As an Anglican priest, he led the Oxford Movement that sought to return the Church of England to its Catholic roots.  His conversion to Catholicism in 1845 rocked Victorian England.  After becoming an Oratorian priest, he was involved in the establishment of the Birmingham Oratory.  He died in 1890 and is buried...

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 13, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI announced he will dispense with the five-year waiting period established by Canon Law to open the cause of beatification of Sister Lucia, one of the three Fatima visionaries. The news was announced today in the cathedral of Coimbra, Portugal, by Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, on the third anniversary of the Carmelite's death.The Holy Father dispensed with the established waiting period once before for the cause of Pope John Paul II. Benedict XVI made the announcement on May 13, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima,...

On April 28, 2006, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI approved the promulgation of the miracle attributed to the intercession of Father Basil Anthony Moreau (1799-1873), founder of the men and women’s congregations of Holy Cross. This promulgation prepares the way for the beatification that will take place in the diocese of Le Mans, France, on September 15, 2007. Father Basil Moreau’s cause for beatification was first introduced on the diocesan level in Le Mans, France, in 1946. However, it was not until 1955 that the cause was presented for consideration by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome....

Italian Priest Was Killed in Congo PALERMO, Sicily, APRIL 27, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Blessed Francesco Spoto knew the value of life, and how to give it up for others, according to the current superior general of his congregation. Palermo native Father Spoto, the superior general of the Congregation of Missionary Servants of the Poor, was 40 years old when he was murdered by a group of Simba rebels in Congo in 1964. He was beatified last Saturday in his hometown. Cardinal Salvatore De Giorgi, retired archbishop of Palermo, was delegated by Benedict XVI to preside at the Mass. Archbishop Paolo Romeo...

The Rome diocese has wrapped up its examination of Pope John Paul II's virtues and life, an important step in the Catholic Church's process that could lead to sainthood for the late pontiff.Rome Cardinal Camillo Ruini said Saturday he had been informed that completion of work by the diocese on the cause for beatification and sainthood will be marked with a ceremony in St. John's Lateran Basilica on April 2 in the capital. The date is the second anniversary of John Paul's death.All pontiffs serve as bishop of Rome, and so the diocese examined "the life, virtues and reputation for...

ROME (CNS) -- The Rome diocesan office charged with promoting the sainthood cause of Pope John Paul II has exceeded its postage budget because of increased requests for prayer cards and relics of the late pope. "We were getting about 50 requests a day, but overnight it grew to between 500 and 1,000 requests," a spokeswoman for the office said March 2. "We could not have foreseen this demand," she said. "It's an avalanche." Franciscan Brother Chris Gaffrey, who assists the office with English translations, told Catholic News Service that the vast majority of requests in late February and early...

Nun killed for sheltering Jews is beatified in Hungary By Jonathan Luxmoore 9/18/2006 Catholic News Service OXFORD, England (CNS) – A nun executed for sheltering Jews during World War II was remembered for her feminine example of holiness during her beatification in Hungary. Advertisement Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest, Hungary, said the martyrdom of Sister Sara Salkahazi of the Sisters of Social Service is "close to us, and her example is within our reach. She is someone of modest circumstances, who lived through the storms of 20th-century history and gave us an example of the feminine way to holiness." Sister...

Plan to beatify martyrs of Spanish civil war attackedThe Pope has provoked controversy with plans to beatify 168 Catholic martyrs of the Spanish civil war. Historians believe that about 10,000 priests, brothers, nuns and laity were killed during the civil war from 1936-39, as Leftists fighting to defend Spain's secular republic tried to wipe out what they saw as Catholic resistance. Beatification, a step towards sainthood, will help preserve the memory of those victims. But as Spain wrestles with conflicting versions of its history in the run up to the 70th anniversary of the start of the civil war next...

Vatican, Apr. 27 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) has called for tighter limits on the number of candidates for beatification, in a message to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. In a long letter to Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Pope Benedict said that a cause should not be opened unless there is "a proven reputation for holiness." The Pope's letter was sent on April 24, as the Congregation opened its plenary meeting; the text was released by the Vatican on April 27. The Holy Father said...

Vatican City, March 28 - Non-believers and people of other religions are volunteering their testimony to Catholic officials working for the beatification of the late John Paul II .Procedures leading to the Polish pontiff's beatification began last summer and since then messages from people attesting to his saintliness have arrived from around the globe, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said ."They come from people who say they are agnostics, non-believers, even Muslims, Buddhists or Hindus. They say that they would like their testimony to be officially recognised by the Church," he said .Monsignor Slawomir Oder, the Polish priest overseeing John...

POPE Benedict XVI has authorised the proclamation of 19 new saints and blesseds, the first such decree of his papacy which began in late April. The list named two future saints, a Polish priest from the 15th century and an Italian nun from the 16th century. The number of blesseds included nine Italians, three Germans, three Spaniards, a Dutchman and an Indian. The Indian priest, Agostino Thevarparampil, who died in 1973, was the most recent person to be named a blessed. Thirteen others were also from the 20th century. The process of recognising the saints and blesseds, either for their...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Once again returning to a streamlined practice in place before the pontificate of Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI chose a private audience for the signing of a variety of decrees related to sainthood causes. Pope Benedict met Dec. 19 with Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, and authorized the publication of decrees related to 19 causes. Pope John Paul also authorized publication of decrees during meetings with the prefect, but the meetings were anything but private. The postulators of the individual causes were invited, as were local bishops or...

John Paul's sainthood opposed John Hooper in Rome Thursday December 8, 2005 The Guardian A group of prominent Roman Catholic theologians and writers has revealed it is trying to stop the late pope John Paul II being declared a saint. In a document being circulated in Rome, they say the Vatican should take account of decisions reached by the Polish pontiff "that ought to be an obstacle to [his] beatification". Following emotional scenes at the late pope's funeral, his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, set him on a fast track to beatification - the first step towards sainthood - last June....

Thousands of pilgrims packed St Peter's basilica at the Vatican for the beatification of French monk Charles de Foucauld who lived among Muslims in colonial Algeria, and two Italian nuns. In line with the trend set for his pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI delegated the beatification ceremony to Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, prefect for the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The other two people beatified were Maria Pia Mastena, who died in 1916 -- the same year de Foucauld was killed by bandits in Algeria -- and Maria Crocifissa Curcio, who died in 1957. Both nuns founded religious orders. De...

ROME Nov 6, 2005 — An Italian mother who raised 11 children was moving ahead on the road to possible sainthood Sunday amid a Vatican campaign in favor of large families. Eurosia Fabris, known as "Mamma Rosa," raised two children whose mother died while they were little, then married their father and with him had nine children. The virtues of Fabris, who died in 1932, were being honored Sunday in a beatification ceremony in Vicenza, near her native farming village in northern Italy. Beatification is the last formal step before possible sainthood. On Wednesday, Pope Benedict XVI praised large families and called...

Folks, according to Catholic World News: (CWNews.com) - Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, will preside at beatification ceremonies for Charles de Foucauld and two Italian nuns-- Maria Pia Mastena, and Maria Crocifissa Curcio-- on November 13.Charles de Foucauld (1858- 1916) was a French soldier who converted to Catholicism, became a monk, and lived as a hermit in southern Algeria, where he was a pioneer of dialogue with Muslims. His beatification had originally been set for May 15, but was postponed-- along with several other similar ceremonies-- when Pope John Paul II...

Rome, Oct. 20 (CWNews.com) - Reports of a miracle attributed to the intercession of Cardinal John Henry Newman have given a new impetus to the cause for beatification of the 19th-century British convert. "At last we have a miracle cure," said Father Paul Chavasse, the provost of the Birmingham Oratory, an institution founded by Cardinal Newman in 1848. He was referring to reports that an American deacon was cured of severe chronic spinal problems through Cardinal Newman's intercession. Church officials would not reveal the identity of the man who benefited from the reported miracle, but said that the Boston archdiocese...

Sometime in the next few days, Andrea Ambrosi, a Vatican lawyer specializing in the arcane ways of canonization, will leave New Orleans for Rome with a precious cargo: 2,918 pages of memories, testimonies and historical and theological arguments in support of sainthood for his new client, Henriette Delille, the 19th century woman of color who spent a lifetime ministering to slaves in antebellum New Orleans. The thick files are the product of 16 years of prayers, promotion and scholarly research by modern admirers of Delille in and out of the Sisters of the Holy Family, the religious order she founded....

Pope Benedict XVI has temporarily blocked the beatification of a French priest and appointed a commission to investigate the priest's anti-Semitic writings, drawing praise from Jewish leaders who called it a sign of the new pope's sensitivity to other religions.Last December, Pope John Paul II announced plans to beatify Leon Dehon on April 24. The ceremony would have been a major step toward sainthood for Dehon, who lived from 1843 to 1925 and founded the Priests of the Sacred Heart, a religious order that today has nearly 2,400 members around the world.In February, however, a French historian drew attention to...

At the request of the Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord D. Camillo Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church Ruini, Vicar General of His Holiness for the Diocese of Rome, the Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI, considering the special circumstances set forth, in an audience granted to the same Cardinal Vicar on 28 April in this year 2005, has dispensed with the five-year waiting period after death for the Servant of God, John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla), Supreme Pontiff, so that the Cause for the Beatification and Canonization of the same Servant of God may begin immediately. Anything to the contrary...

The Pope starts Wojtyla beatification The Pope has arranged the immediate beginning of the cause of beatification of Pope Wojtyla, dispensing from the wait of the five years from the dead women previewed from the code. Benedict XVI has announced personally the roman clergy, reading, in Latin, a communication in such sense of cardinal Josè Saraiva Martins, prefetto of the Congregation for the causes of knows to you. The communication has been received a longest applause of present clergymen, raised in feet, therefore like the Pope and Ruini cardinal.

Blessed Carlos Manuel Cecilio Rodríguez Santiago (1918-1963)Folks, the passing of Pope John Paul the Great has created a veritable memorabilia boom in stores. Commemorative issues of magazines, books, pictures, and DVDs abound. Riding that wave, last night I purchased a National Geographic documentary entitled Inside the Vatican. They featured a beatification ceremony which happened to be the one in which Puerto Rico's first blessed, Carlos "Charlie" (or "Chali" as he was called in Puerto Rico) Rodríguez was beatified by Pope John Paul the Great. It was a blessed coincidence. You've probably noticed Bl. Charlie's picture the margin space to the...

VATICAN CITY - The private secretary of the late Pope John Paul II saw the pontiff perform what could be claimed as a miracle, one of the key stages to becoming a saint, Italy’s La Stampa newspaper reported Sunday.It quoted Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz as relating how an American who was seriously ill received communion from the pope, and was cured.The incident happened in 1998, but Dziwisz, who was John Paul II’s closest confidant for 40 years, spoke of the incident three years ago to reporters, who revealed it Sunday.According to the report, Dziwisz told how an acquaintance had asked him...

Mother Teresa “Beatified" with Idolatrous Rites By Cornelia R. Ferreira It was a triumphant day for paganism. Simon Cardinal Lourdusamy had reached the zenith of his career of Hinduizing the Catholic Church, whilst his opponent, the late Indian Resistance leader Victor Kulanday, was resoundingly defeated. It was October 19th, 2003, and in front of an audience of millions (courtesy of television), Mother Teresa of Calcutta was allegedly beatified in a Hinduized papal Mass in St. Peter’s Square. The seeds of this false worship were sown back in 1969 by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India and the chairman of its...

VATICAN CITY -- Pope John Paul II on Monday approved the beatification of Cardinal Clement August von Galen, a German prelate who fought the Nazis so fiercely that he was known as "the lion of Munster." Von Galen was one of 22 candidates for sainthood whose causes received approval from John Paul, who already has proclaimed a record 1,345 blesseds and 483 saints in the 26 years of his pontificate. Beatification, or being declared blessed and worthy of veneration, is one step below sainthood.

It was very encouraging news to hear of plans for the beatification of Pope Pius IX, the Pontiff who declared the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and papal infallibility, the Pope of the dogmatic Council Vatican I, which reaffirmed the teachings and traditions of the Magisterium of the Holy Catholic Church. The accompanying news of the beatification of Pope John XXIII, the Pope of the pastoral Council Vatican II, which worked a real revolution in the largest religious body in the world, rightfully raises concern and questions in the minds of a number of good Catholics. Let’s put aside the...

Recently Pope John Paul beatified five people. One of them was Anna Katharina Emmerick, a German nun whose meditations partly inspired Mel Gibson's movie The Passion. Certain Jewish leaders condemned the beatification, alleging that it affirms anti-Semitism and damages the relationship between the Jewish and Roman Catholic faiths. The Anti-Defamation League in the United States said of Emmerick that "hatred and anti-Semitism were fermented in her name." Hardly. Born in 1774, Anna Katharina was a simple woman from a poor family who, though disabled, had extraordinary spiritual gifts and helped many people. It may well be that some of her...

John Paul II Makes a Rosary Appeal 10/3/2004 ATICAN CITY, OCT. 4, 2004 (Zenit) - John Paul II capped a beatification Mass by inviting Christians to recite the rosary. The Pope made his appeal today in St. Peter's Square at the end of the Mass in which he proclaimed five new blessed. "On this first Sunday of October, month dedicated in a special way to the Virgin of the Rosary, I invite you to recite this beautiful prayer, imitating also in this the new blessed," the Holy Father said. John Paul II referred explicitly to Mother Ludovica De Angelis, one...

Pope John Paul II on Sunday put the last Austro-Hungarian emperor, Charles I, on the road to sainthood in a solemn beatification ceremony in St. Peter's Square, prompting angry reactions in Austria and splitting the Roman Catholic community there.

VATICAN CITY (Oct. 3) - Pope John Paul II on Sunday moved five Catholics closer to sainthood, including Austria's last reigning emperor and a German nun whose graphic visions of Christ's suffering helped inspire the blockbuster movie "The Passion of the Christ." Pope John Paul II kneels during a beatification ceremony in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. Cheers went up in St. Peter's Square from a crowd of about 30,000 people when the pontiff finished reading the Latin words with which he beatified the five candidates, and banners with images of the five faithful were unfurled on the facade...

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Never one to shrink from criticism, Pope John Paul is again putting controversial figures on the road to sainthood, including Austria's last emperor and a mystic nun who inspired Mel Gibson's film on Christ's passion. With Sunday's ceremony in St Peter's Square, the ailing 84-year-old Roman Catholic leader will have beatified some 1,340 people, more than all his predecessors combined. The Pope will confer beatification -- the last step before Roman Catholic sainthood -- on five people on Sunday. The two most controversial could not have been more different. One was born in a wooden farmhouse...

Karl I Beatification Causes Uproar By WILLIAM J. KOLE, Associated Press Writer VIENNA, Austria - Some think he's already a saint for seeking a peaceful end to World War I. Others think he's a scoundrel for commanding troops who used poison gas and for mounting two bloody comeback attempts. On Sunday, Pope John Paul II is to beatify Karl I, but the Vatican's decision to put Austria's last reigning emperor on the road to sainthood has triggered a spirited political and religious debate at home. Austria's government has come under fire for its plans to send a high-profile delegation to...

Code: ZE04092005 Date: 2004-09-21 Beatification Nears for Charles I and Anna Emmerick Oct. 3 Event Scheduled VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 20, 2004 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II will soon beatify five people, including Emperor Charles I of Austria and German mystic Anna Katharina Emmerick, whose writings influenced Mel Gibson in the production of "The Passion of the Christ." The Holy See today published the list of the Servants of God to be beatified Oct. 3, when it announced the Pope's upcoming key liturgical celebrations. Charles I of Habsburg (1887-1922) was proclaimed emperor of Austria in 1916. In March 1919 he was...

The Wartime Policeman Who Saved Thousands of Jews Details Revealed About the Life of Giovanni Palatucci, Raoul Wallenberg BUENOS AIRES, JUNE 14, 2004 (Zenit.org).- An Italian policeman who gave his life to save some 5,000 Jews during World War II also helped to spare his fiancée. Giovanni Palatucci's cause of beatification is already under way. Earlier this month, Baruch Tenembaum, founder of the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, revealed details of Palatucci's life, at a conference on "Saviors of the Holocaust." Tenembaum gave new information on the person of the former police officer of the city of Rijeka (today in Croatia), but...

PARIS (Reuters) - The 19th century German nun whose blood-soaked visions of Jesus's death inspired Mel Gibson's film "The Passion of The Christ" will soon be put on the path to sainthood, Catholic Church officials have said. Anne Catherine Emmerich, a sickly mystic who lived from 1774 to 1824, has already reached near cult status among traditionalist Roman Catholics for her book that gave Gibson the grisly details the Gospels did not provide. The Vatican says Pope John Paul II will beatify Emmerich for her virtuous life, not her best-selling book, but the Oct. 3 ceremony will further publicize her...