PART 17: Antichrists revealed – Delibrate rebellion of the antichrist towards Christ

Contents

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Diocesan process

On 18 March 1993 “nihil obstat” (“nothing against”) was declared under Pope John Paul II which opened the cause for beatification. The diocesan process commenced on 11 May 1993 in Rome and thus, he was granted the title of Servant of God. The postulator assigned to the cause was Father Antonio Marrazzo. The diocesan process concluded its business on 18 March 1998.[7] Father Luigi Villa, playing the part of the devil’s advocate, released a book titled Paul VI: Beatified? which was written in opposition to the cause of beatification.[8]

Roman phase

The Positio – documents and other information gathered from the diocesan process – was forwarded to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in 2011. Theological consultors and the members of the congregation collaborated on the resources gathered from the previous process and unanimously agreed that the late pope had lived a life of heroic virtue. They forwarded their vote to Pope Benedict XVI who, on 20 December 2012, signed the decree in recognition of his heroic virtues. This meant that he was titled Venerable.[9]

The miracle and investigations

Beatification tapestry.

In 2003 an alleged miracle attributed to his intercession had been discovered in the United States of America. The case involved a fetus in the mother’s womb which suffered brain defects that would affect the child. The doctor advised the mother to have an abortion but the mother refused to do so and requested the intercession of the late pope at the behest of a nun who gave her a card with a piece of the late pope’s cassock on it. When the child was born, there were no defects that could be detected and the child’s health was monitored until it became an adolescent. The child in question still shows no signs of defects.

The inquiry into the miracle closed in 2006 and the case went to a Vatican medical board which met on 12 December 2013 and voted in favour of the miracle which they deemed was “medically unexplainable”.[10] Theological advisors met to discuss the miracle on 18 February 2014 and also voted in favour of the miracle which was then forwarded to the members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The congregation met on 5 May 2014 and voted that the healing was indeed a miracle attributed to the late pope.[11]