Pope praises late Vietnamese cardinal as 'prophet of hope'

Published: 2007-09-17

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As church officials prepared to open the sainthood cause for Cardinal Francois Nguyen Van Thuan, Pope Benedict XVI praised the late Vietnamese cardinal as a "singular prophet of Christian hope." "This heroic pastor" left behind a legacy that included his "shining witness of faith" in God's plan for humanity, the pope said in a Sept. 17 audience with members of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, the office Cardinal Thuan headed from 1998 until his death in 2002. The audience at the papal summer villa in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome, came one day after Cardinal Renato Martino named Silvia Monica Correale as postulator for the cardinal's sainthood cause. The Vatican released a copy of the papal remarks. Correale told Catholic News Service Sept. 17 that the Diocese of Rome formally will open the canonization process "very soon." Church law calls for a five-year waiting period between the time of the candidate's death and the cause for canonization to begin.

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