In the aftermath of the death of Pope John Paul II, there was a lot of speculation about his "first miracle." One cleric, commenting on CNN during the Pope’s funeral, said it was when Israeli and Arab leaders shook hands during the sign of peace. Many faithful Catholics said that it must have been when Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was elected as Pope Benedict XVI. These are miracles in the looser sense and don’t count toward sainthood.
Now, though, the Vatican may have found a miracle that could count in the process of canonization for JPII: a nun miraculously cured of Parkinson’s Disease after praying to him for his intercession:
"Monsignor Slawomir Oder, the Catholic Church official in charge of promoting the cause to declare the late Pope a saint of the Church, told Reuters on Monday that an investigation into the healing had cleared an initial probe by doctors.
"Oder said the ‘relatively young’ nun, whom he said he could not identify for now, was inexplicably cured of Parkinson’s after praying to John Paul after his death last April 2.
"’I was moved,’ Oder said in a telephone interview. ‘To think that this was the same illness that destroyed the Holy Father and it also kept this poor nun from carrying out her work.’"
It looks like those who suffer from Parkinson’s Disease now have someone on the fast-track to becoming their patron saint.
