Nun’s recovery may lead to sainthood for pope

ROME – The sudden recovery of a young French nun suffering from Parkinson’s disease is at the heart of the sainthood case for Pope John Paul II, the Polish priest who heads the inquiry said Monday.

The Vatican needs to confirm a miracle after John Paul’s death for the pontiff to be beatified, the first step toward his possible canonization.

Monsignor Slawomir Oder told the Associated Press that an official inquiry into the nun’s inexplicable recovery was beginning this week.

Sitting in his office in the headquarters of the Diocese of Rome, Oder said the nun had suffered from premature onset of Parkinson’s for many years and was unable to do her work caring for newborns because her hands shook so violently.

John Paul also suffered from the debilitating disease.

After John Paul died April 2, the woman’s superior-general asked all the other sisters in their community in France to pray to the late pope to intervene to help the woman. On June 2, she was cured, Oder said.

“Exactly two months after the death of the pope, from one minute to another, the nun didn’t show the symptoms of the illness any more,” Oder said. “According to the criteria of human science, the doctor couldn’t give an explanation of what happened.”

Oder said he would send a formal request this week to the French bishop in whose diocese the alleged miracle occurred asking for an investigation. All testimony and documentation are sent to the Vatican.