The diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, has formally opened the Cause of the woman who inspired Mother Angelica to become a nun.
More than 1,000 people attended the Mass marking the occasion in St Peter’s Church in the city of Canton last month.
Rhoda Wise (1888-1948) was raised Protestant but converted to Catholicism.
Towards the end of her life she became known for healings attributed to her intercession. She had a devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the rosary and St Thérèse of Lisieux, and later bore the stigmata.
Fr Edward Beneleit, parish priest of St Peter, said the large congregation “shows how many people she touched while she was alive or after [her death]”.
Among those who claimed healing from Wise was Mother Angelica, the founder of the Eternal Word Television Network, who died last year. Mother Angelica said she was cured of a painful stomach ailment after praying with Wise.
Mother Angelica said: “All I wanted to do after my healing was give myself to Jesus.” Capuchin Fr Joseph Tuscan, a member of the board of the Rhoda Wise Shrine in Canton, said Wise suffered throughout her life, dealing with financial disaster, an alcoholic husband, and the death of a young daughter, as well as her own serious health issues. During one of her hospital stays, before she became a Catholic, a nun told her about the rosary and St Thérèse.
Wise reportedly experienced her first apparition of Jesus in May 1939, and about a month later had an apparition of Jesus with St Thérèse.
Wise was cured of her stomach cancer, which was considered incurable by her doctors, who had sent her home to die. St Thérèse is said to have miraculously healed Wise of a broken foot on August 15 1939.
“Everyone suffers, but in a way, Rhoda Wise, aside from being a witness to the people on the fringes, is an answer to the question of human suffering,” Fr Tuscan said. “Rhoda wasn’t crushed by her suffering. She became a source of hope. And I think that perseveres.”
Reform of the Curia is more than a facelift, says Francis
The reform of the Roman Curia is not a mere facelift to rejuvenate an ageing body but a process of deep, personal conversion, Pope Francis has said.
Giving his Christmas address to cardinals and heads of Vatican offices, the Pope warned that “it is not wrinkles the Church should fear” but rather the stains that impede its growth and relevance in the world.
“The reform does not have an aesthetical end to make the Curia more beautiful; it cannot be understood as a sort of face-lift or applying make-up to beautify the elderly curial body, nor plastic surgery to remove wrinkles.” While his addresses in previous years focused on curial ills, this festive speech laid out a 12-step programme of guiding principles geared towards an appropriate and long-lasting recovery.
“It was necessary to speak of illnesses and cures so that every operation – to achieve success – be preceded by an in-depth diagnosis, by accurate analyses and must be accompanied and followed through with precise prescriptions,” the Pope said.
He distinguished between different types of “resistance” to reform – those born of goodwill or of malevolence.
Four million visit the Vatican
More than 3.9 million pilgrims visited and attended papal events, liturgies or prayer services during the Year of Mercy in 2016, the Vatican has said.
The figure, published by the Prefecture of the Papal Household, which coordinates papal audiences, was slightly higher than the 3.2 million visitors received by Pope Francis in 2015, but fell short of the 5.9 million pilgrims who visited in 2014.
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