Posted on 09/15/2010 11:49:09 AM PDT by NYer
LONDON (CNS) -- Catholic officials are investigating claims that a severely deformed baby was born in a perfectly normal condition after the child's mother prayed to Cardinal John Henry Newman for a miracle.
Andrea Ambrosi, the Vatican lawyer in charge of Cardinal Newman's cause for canonization, has revealed in a BBC program to be broadcast Sept. 18 that he hopes the inexplicable healing may be the miracle needed to canonize Cardinal Newman as Britain's next saint.
Pope Benedict XVI will beatify Cardinal Newman at a huge open-air Mass in Birmingham's Cofton Park Sept. 19, the last day of his four-day visit to England and Scotland. However, a second miracle is needed to name the 19th-century cardinal as a saint.
"I am about to leave for Mexico City precisely because that could be the miracle for his canonization," Ambrosi said in the documentary -- "Newman: Saint or Sinner?" -- excerpts of which were released by the BBC Sept. 9.
"We are in a very preliminary phase," he added. "I cannot say anything yet, but this shows how the cardinal answers these prayers."
Former British government minister Ann Widdecombe -- who, like Cardinal Newman, was Anglican before becoming Catholic -- will present the television program. She told Catholic News Service Sept. 13 that the alleged healing occurred after prenatal scans revealed that the unborn baby was "severely deformed."
The doctors, she said, were convinced they could do nothing to help the fetus, but the mother, a devout Catholic, insisted on going through with the pregnancy.
"The child was born perfect following the mother praying to Newman, and scientists can't explain it," said Widdecombe.
Father Richard Duffield, provost of the Birmingham Oratory, confirmed in an e-mail to CNS that "an investigative tribunal into a further miracle ... is about to open in the Archdiocese of Mexico City."
"The reported miracle took place after the formal announcement of Newman's beatification (in July 2009)," he said. "This means that if it is found to be genuine it would be eligible for consideration as the second miracle necessary for Newman's canonization. It is expected that witness statements from those concerned and from the medical teams will be ready to send to Rome in early 2011.
"The process of investigation needs to be very thorough, and we should be cautious," he said. "But it is always exciting to hear reports of Newman's intercession and the evident devotion there is to him all over the world."
U.S. Deacon Jack Sullivan of Marshfield, Mass., whose healing from a crippling spinal condition in August 2001 was the miracle that allowed for Cardinal Newman's beatification, will read the Gospel during the beatification Mass.
Pope Benedict has waived his own rules to preside over the ceremony rather than sending a Vatican delegate to conduct the ceremony.
Cardinal Newman was an Anglican theologian who became a Catholic after first founding the Oxford Movement to try to return the Church of England to its Catholic roots.
Newman ping!
“prayed to Cardinal John Henry Newman”
Catholics only pray to God.
We ask others—Saints and the Virgin Mary -—to pray for Us.
Interesting you didn’t make this a Caucus thread. Who could possibly care about this except a Catholic?
Did I mention that all this is happening in my local church?
Sorry to repeat myself guys, it's just that I'm looking forward to this.
Specifically: I'm looking forward to the Pope coming round to pray in Newman's shrine in my local church.
The word pray means ask, beg or plead. As in “I pray thee”. Realising that, you will see that we pray to other people all the time.
For instance: prayer threads which are titled (something like) “Please pray for my sick relative” are prayers aimed AT Freepers. Prayers asking us to pray. Do you see?
St Newman, please pray for us. Ask God to bless us, and to reconcile Britain once again to Himself.
That’s a pretty pathetic outlook you have there.
I agree
This outlook on Roman sainthood is shared by all Protestants.
This outlook on Roman sainthood is shared by all Protestants.
“Pray” only means “beseech.”
* Ya know the stereotypically British word, “prithee?” It’s a contraction of “[I] pray [to] thee.”
* When beseeching a court’s actions, in several states at least, the plaintiff “prays” to the court.
We Catholics recognize that all graces come from God, and we only ask the Saints to join us in requesting those graces; further, it is reasonable, given the collapse of the English language and the deceptive attacks on Catholicism that we “reform” our use of language to avoid confusion. However, albeit archaic, one can correctly say that Catholics pray to saints.
TO PROTESTANTS:
We do not worship them; that is not what “pray” means. We revere them, but we do not adore them. We beseech them, but we do not obey them. And we do not pray to any soul whose salvation we are uncertain of, lest we risk that their will is not in union with God. And that is why we distinguish between “saints,” who walk among us on Earth, and canonized “Saints,” whose Salvation and complete submission to God we can be certain of. And we can indeed be certain because God himself has given us signs, and given to the Pope the authority to rule for us that we are safe.
any Christian should be interested in a miraculous work.
altho i’m skeptical. what’s the “proof” the child was severely deformed? i’ve seen many articles where doctors pressed “medical” abortion because the child was deformed, disabled, or would in some way be unable to live on their own, yet the child was born fine.
How exciting!! Will you be in attendance? I expect EWTN will provide live coverage of the pope's visit. The entire world will be visiting your local church :-)
It is all semantics. If I say that I prayed FOR Cardinal John Henry Newman’s intercession or if I prayed TO Cardinal John Henry Newman for his intercession, it is the same thing. The one thing that all Catholics KNOW whether they say “I prayed to St. so and so” or “I asked St. so and so for intercession, God is the source.
I can pray to you to drive me to the grocery store and if you agree then you have answered my prayer. God gave you that ability and that charity and so, even if I had first prayed to God to send someone to take me to the grocery store, you, through God’s power answered my prayer. So, I first thank God for sending you and then I thank you for heeding the voice of God.
Our total existence is predicated on God above all but God has always used the saints, living and dead, to do his bidding, they just have to say yes.
You obviously cared enough to check it out and make a comment. Who knows, maybe your guardian angel encouraged you to look and then the human side of you wanted to deride. May God bless you and may you accept His blessing.
And you too my friend.
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