Pope Francis Sets Two Teenagers on Path to Canonisation

The Catholic Herald (UK) ^ | 7/8/18 | Junno Arocho Esteves

[marshmallow]

Decree recognises heroic virtues of Alexia González-Barros, 14, and Carlo Acutis, 15

Pope Francis has issued decrees advancing the Causes of four candidates, including two teenagers who heroically lived the Christian virtues.

At a meeting with Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, the Pope signed a decree recognising the heroic virtues of Alexia González-Barros, who offered her sufferings from a malignant tumour for the Church.

González was born in Madrid in 1971. Her parents were members of Opus Dei and passed on their faith to their five children. She made her first Communion in Rome and the following day attended the weekly general audience on May 9, 1979.

She ran up to St John Paul II as he greeted pilgrims and received a blessing and a kiss from the pope.

Several years later, her life dramatically changed when doctors discovered a tumour that gradually paralysed her. Throughout her illness, she offered her sufferings for the Church and the pope and would often pray, “Jesus, I want to feel better, I want to be healed; but if you do not want that, I want what you want.”

She died on December 5, 1985, aged 14.

Pope Francis also recognised the heroic virtues of Carlo Acutis, a teenager who used his computer skills to catalogue Eucharistic miracles around the world before his death at the age of 15 due to leukaemia.

[ConservativeMind]

“Several years later, her life dramatically changed when doctors discovered a tumour that gradually paralysed her. Throughout her illness, she offered her sufferings for the Church and the pope and would often pray, “Jesus, I want to feel better, I want to be healed; but if you do not want that, I want what you want.”

If that’s the entry point, there are a lot of kids deserving of this.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Pope Soros.

[chuckles]

I don’t understand any of this. What chapter and verse is Canonization? And what is it for?

[HiTech RedNeck]

And adults... though there’s also a special qualifier in the Roman Catholic system. Prayers for aid made to the prospective canonizees also have to have been answered. It’s obviously not a thing that those not Roman Catholic or Orthodox recognize. But yes, the story of dedicating a life of unchosen suffering to the Lord is a common one across all branches of Christendom.

[Jeff Chandler]

How long does the canonization process take now, three weeks?