Paul VI to be Canonized

Paul VI has made another great and decisive step towards canonization. The members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints unanimously gave the green light to the second miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Pope Montini.

The miracle is the healing, inexplicable from the point of view of science, of a child conceived and not yet born. It happened in the fifth month of pregnancy when, according to doctors, the child had little or no chance of being born due to a serious complication in its development which also endangered the mother's health.

The Cardinals and Bishops of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints have, consequently, noted the two elements required: the univocal invocation of the blessed and the scientifically inexplicable healing. The case began to be studied at the time of the postulation of the cause in 2014. The mother, originally from the province of Verona, experiencing a difficult pregnancy and risked of losing her child because of the serious pathology that could have compromised the lives of both. A few days after the beatification of Pope Montini, in Rome on Sunday 19 October 2014, the woman went to Brescia to pray to the new blessed at the Shrine of Grace. The child she was expecting was born in good health and continues being healthy. This presumed miracle was then considered by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and the inexplicable healing was recognized last year by the Congregation’s Medical Council and then analyzed and approved by the theologians. The last step was that of the cardinalatial meeting, during which the conclusions of the doctors and the experts as well as the theologians’ evaluations were reviewed. The Cardinal Prefect Angelo Amato will now bring the vote of cardinals and bishops to the Pope. Of course, the final decision will be that of Pope Francis, who will probably announce, at the upcoming Consistory, the date of the canonization, which could be celebrated in Rome in October, during the Synod for Youth.

The miracle that led to the beatification of Pope Montini also concerned unborn life and the healing of a conceived child still in the womb. This is significant since Paul VI is the Pope of Humanae Vitae, published precisely fifty years ago.