Did Pope Perform Miracle After His Death?

washingtonpost.com ^ | NICOLE WINFIELD

[tbird5]

OME -- The sudden recovery of a young French nun suffering from Parkinson's disease is at the heart of the sainthood case for Pope John Paul II, the Polish priest who heads the inquiry said Monday.

The Vatican needs to confirm a miracle after John Paul's death for the pontiff to be beatified, the first step toward his possible canonization.

Monsignor Slawomir Oder told The Associated Press in an interview that an official inquiry into the nun's inexplicable recovery was beginning this week.

[MineralMan]

"if you are not Catholic, why should this concern any of you in the slightest? i do not understand why people hop on these threads and start ragging on this stuff when it is not a religion they belong to anyway."

It doesn't concern me, personally. I'm interested in the Roman Catholic Church, though. I'm especially interested in the Roman Catholic saints, and have read pretty thoroughly about them and the history of saints.

I happen to think that John Paul II was one of the best Popes in recent history. His writings and other pronouncements are well worth studying. Now, the church wants to make him a saint. They're pushing his sainthood pretty hard.

Free Republic is an open forum. Since I am interested in the RCC and its process of canonization, I can see no reason why I shouldn't participate in a discussion on that subject.

[absolootezer0]

There is already a documented miracle; The work Pres Reagan and Pope John Paul did to bring down the Soviet Union! The fall of the Evil Empire saved countless lives. In my mind this should count for something, but we still have too many commie shills in the Catholic Church for this to be considered.

forget the pope.. CANONIZE REAGAN!

[mc5cents]

The Catholic Church itself is one of the biggest skeptics when it comes to miracles.

Brother you can say that again (I just did).

I am a Catholic that was born into the church, so I took a religious education course in order to learn more about my religion. I still remember the discussion about miracles. The deacon teaching the course explained the many steps that a person has to go through in order to be cannonized by the church. Each step has multiple hoops that have to be jumped through also. It is EXTREMELY hard to become a saint in the church these days. Unfortunately, in the early church sainthood was handed out like so much candy, which cheapened it for a while. But today, mainly due to the criticizism given the church because of that time, it is a different story completely.

[mike182d]

Are there any saints or miracle-workers, that are not Catholic?

You mean before or after they died? :-)

[frogjerk]

The thing is that all the testing for miraculous cures seems to take place solely within the Church.

You are misinformed.

[xsmommy]

discuss away.

[MineralMan]

"What is the difference between a miracle, and something unexplainable?"

Generally, a miracle is defined as having some supernatural element, involving the intervention of a deity.

Amazing cures are frequently assessed as miracles by various religions.

In this case, the sudden cure of this nun's Parkinson's is supposedly due to prayers for John Paul II to intercede in the nun's behalf, after his death.

Since a miracle or two are required for the process of canonization to proceed, this case is of interest.

[The Lumster]

Hey Lumster...if you have any connections could you arrange one of those folks to take care of some hemorrhoids that I have from setting on hard seats.. Thanks....

I have a connection, but it ain't no dead pope it's the living Christ.

Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. Mark 9:23

[MineralMan]

Sure. The Anglican and Episcopal churches have their own list of saints. Some are the same as the Roman Catholic saints, while others are unique. There's lots of information on saints on the web.

[stuartcr]

I imagine, before.

[onyx]

We know the answer.
Discussion?
Nah. Not meaningful anyway.

[big'ol_freeper]

Open your eyes. There are miracles around you every day.

[stuartcr]

How does one know if it is supernatural or involves a deity?

[stuartcr]

Thanks.

[mike182d]

I happen to think that John Paul II was one of the best Popes in recent history. His writings and other pronouncements are well worth studying. Now, the church wants to make him a saint. They're pushing his sainthood pretty hard.

The Church isn't actually pushing for canonization, the people are. Rome, per usual, will take its sweet time so as not to be in error. Furthermore, someone isn't canonized a "Saint" becuase they were a terrific person on earth. Take Thomas A. Kempis for example who wrote "Imitation of Christ" and everyone tought he was an amazingly holy man. When the Church later exhumed is body during the process of canonization, they found that the inside of the casket had gashes all through the top and his fingers were whittled down. It turns out, as was not uncommon during the middle ages, that he had been buried alive accidentally. So, despite an entire lifetime of perceived holiness, the Church was reluctant to canonize him because he might have despaired in his last moments before death - which is a big mortal sin.

That is why Thomas A. Kempis never became a Saint and that is why miracles after death become so important. A man condemned to hell cannot do any work for God here on earth.

[MineralMan]

"You are misinformed."

While lay persons may participate in the process, the final determination is made solely by the church. Having studied some of the accepted "miraculous" cures, it's interesting to note that the original diagnosis is often not fully supported by medical tests. Did this nun have Parkinson's or, perhaps, one of the many other medical conditions that have similar symptoms? How was this tested?

Please pardon my skepticism, it comes naturally to me.

[Campion]

Wanna bet?

God performs the miracle through the saint's intercession, the same way he performs a miracle on behalf of any other Christian who prays for another, so you lose the bet. Sorry.

I thought "real Christians" like you didn't gamble, though, so I guess I learned something today.

[FreedomForce]

What happens if it's declared a miracle then she has a relapse?

[edcoil]

"I'm not big on miracles."

Me, I believe in them.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

i do not understand why people hop on these threads and start ragging on this stuff when it is not a religion they belong to anyway.

Do you mean all non-Muslims shouldn't complain about Islam?