Instant Sainthood
• Hodgepodge
Anne Sebba writes about John Paul II’s hasty canonizations.
So why the need for a miracle? Because it is the only way to insist that God, not man, has directly and specifically intervened in the process. ‘Otherwise she could just be a creation of the media, couldn’t she?’ is how Monsignor Sarno, one of the Vatican’s most savvy priests, explained it. ...
On 5 September 1998, the first anniversary of Mother Teresa’s death, the nuns prayed for her recovery and placed on her stomach a small medallion that Mother Teresa had once touched. In the morning the lump had disappeared. It is the speed of her recovery that makes her cure inexplicable, according to Professor Bonomo, head of the Vatican Medical Board. It must also be declared spontaneous, complete and permanent before being considered by the Theological Board: it was.