Officials: Boston deacon's cure could be miracle for Cardinal Newman

Published: 2005-10-19

LONDON (CNS) -- Catholic officials said the cure of a Boston deacon could be the miracle that paves the way for the beatification of a 19th-century English cardinal. The unnamed deacon from Boston is said to have made a complete recovery from a crippling spinal condition after praying to Cardinal John Henry Newman, the Anglican vicar who shocked Victorian England with his conversion to the Catholic faith. The cardinal's cause was opened in 1958 in Birmingham, England, where he spent much of his life, and he was declared venerable in 1991. Claims of the miracle were announced Oct. 17 at Rome's English College. Father Paul Chavasse, the postulator of Cardinal Newman's cause, said that a couple of years ago officials received a report of the cure of the Boston deacon. "I am not at liberty to give the name of this man, who had been suffering from severe spinal problems and who has now recovered as a result of the intercession of the Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman," Father Chavasse said. "This man has now returned to full health and mobility. I have spoken with him and the doctors who treated him, and they have no explanation for his cure."

Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .