ADVANCEMENT IN THE SEELOS
CANONIZATION CAUSE
New Orleans: The official Diocesan Inquiry into an alleged extraordinary healing through the intercession of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos C.Ss.R., has been finalized. Most Reverend Edwin F. OBrien, Archbishop of Baltimore, had convoked the Diocesan Inquiry Phase in May, 2009, and his Inquiry Panel members exercised the greatest diligence in gathering the necessary proofs and extensive documentation.
The fact-finding Inquiry Panel investigated the case and heard the testimony of Mary Ellen Heibel, her primary physician and nurse, and other key witnesses, concerning Heibels cure of metastasized esophageal cancer. Heibel, a devout Catholic and parishioner of Saint Marys Church in Annapolis, Maryland, had been cancer-free since January 2005, even though the disease had spread to her liver, lungs, back and sternum, and medical treatment had failed. The cancer disappeared one week after she helped begin a weekly Seelos novena in her parish.
On October 11, 2010, the Redemptorist Postulator General, Reverend Antonio Marrazzo, submitted the results of this investigation to the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints at the Vatican. With the Diocesan Phase of the canonization process now complete, Marrazzos formal petition for the Decree of Unsealing the Acts effectively begins the Roman Phase.
At some point in the near future, the case will undergo proper scrutiny by Vatican authorities who will determine if the cure meets the criteria for the one miracle needed in Seelos canonization.
Redemptorist Father Francis Xavier Seelos (1819-1867) was beatified at Saint Peters Square in Rome in the solemn Jubilee Year 2000. He was a man of joy and deep prayer, whose kindness and zeal attracted many people to the sacraments. Known to many as a powerful intercessor, his sacred remains are located at the National Shrine of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos in New Orleans, Louisiana.
You are kindly urged to pray for his canonization.
