Miracle Approved for Paul VI

Paul VI comes one step closer to beatification as the Medical Commission of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints declares that the former Italian Pope’s healing of an unborn child is unexplainable

ANDREA TORNIELLI
VATICAN CITY

The Medical Commission of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints chaired by Dr. Patrizio Polisca, Benedict XVI and Francis’ personal doctor, has called a healing attributed to Giovanni Battista Montini, Pope Paul VI, “unexplainable”. The alleged miracle will now have to be examined by theologians and cardinals before it receives the Pope’s approval. But the toughest part is over and it is expected that Montini’s beatification will take place in the next few months.



From the list of reported cases of healing which the postulator of Paul VI’s cause, Antonio Marrazzo, received, he chose one case which early clinical tests showed as “unexplainable”. Marrazzo chose this healing case some time ago. A year ago, on 20 December 2012, Benedict XVI approved the heroic virtues of Paul VI, concluding the canonical process. Only one miracle is required for beatification.



The alleged miracle Marrazzo chose to present to the commission, was the healing of an unborn child witnessed in California in the early 90s. During a woman’s pregnancy, doctors found a serious problem in the foetus which normally results in brain damage and advised the mother to abort. The woman refused and decided to go ahead with the pregnancy, trusting in the intercession of Paul V, the Pope who wrote the “Humanae Vitae” encyclical in 1968.



The child was born without any defects but only when the child reached puberty could doctors be certain of whether the child had made a full recovery without any problem. A year ago Fr. Marrazzo told Vatican Radio that “a truly extraordinary and supernatural event had occurred thanks to the intercession of Paul VI.” This healing was perfectly in line with the magisterium of Paul VI, who wrote the “Humanae Vitae” in defence of human life, but also in defence of the family because the document talks about conjugal love, not just about unborn life. This healing fits in with Montini’s way of thinking.”



The debate over the late Pope’s cause has intensified over the past year, with doctors exchanging medical opinions until yesterday’s final verdict. Speaking at a conference on Paul VI’s visit to the Holy Land last November, the Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Angelo Scola, said the former Pope’s beatification “should be relatively imminent.”