Catholic Church debates canonization of disabled young woman

From The Boston Globe Oct. 13:

WORCESTER, Mass. - Jeanie Scott had been to Linda Santo's house many times to talk or pray over the inert body of her friend's young daughter, kept alive by machines and unable to speak or move since nearly drowning at age 3. One day in 1993, Santo handed her a painting of the Virgin Mary to admire, and Scott stared at it, awestruck.

"I saw this tear come out of the Blessed Mother's right eye," she said. "I touched it, and it was wet, and I blessed myself and blessed Linda."

Over the next 14 years, the bed-ridden girl, Audrey, became an object of intense devotion for thousands who came to peer through a window cut into her bedroom and pray. Time and again, they reported seeing miracles in her presence: hosts bled, oil formed in a priest's cup, the sick were healed. In 1998, 10,000 people celebrated Mass in a stadium in Worcester with Audrey, who was brought there by ambulance.

In April 2007, she died quietly at home, at the age of 23. Now her supporters have launched a mission to make Audrey a saint. Last month, with permission from the Diocese of Worcester, they began gathering evidence of her life's work and miracles. The effort, which could take decades, is stirring passionate debate among Catholics, about what it means to be a saint and live a holy life.

Catholic scholars say the church is not inclined to canonize a woman who could not actively follow the teachings of Christ. They also say the Vatican looks skeptically at reports of weeping statues and bloody hosts. But a vast following of believers say Audrey changed their lives, and that is evidence enough of her sainthood.

"The fact that she was incapacitated, and yet she was able to achieve this ability to captivate people in her state is a miracle in itself," said Robert E. Keane, a Medford lawyer who is leading the effort to canonize Audrey. "It clearly shows that God is intending to make a statement that all life is important and is valued."

Dr. John W. Harding, Audrey's pediatrician for 12 years, said he regularly saw oil weeping from statues, and once saw "specks of blood" form on a host that was about to be consecrated by a priest. He examined the host under a magnifying glass, he said, and saw an image of Mary "holding the infant Jesus in her arms."

"I really do believe there are miracles associated with this little girl," said Harding, the former chief of pediatrics at Hahnemann Hospital in Worcester. "I think God is really upset with human beings taking control of life and death, and I think he's making a statement that there's value to human life, even if they're not going to pay taxes and have careers, and they're costing the state money."

Audrey was by all accounts a normal girl until she was found floating face down in a backyard pool in August 1987. Dr. Edward Kaye, who treated her for eight years after the accident, has said there was little evidence that she could respond to external stimuli and no evidence that she could process communication. Harding said she was "semi-comatose" when he began treating her but that she eventually would squeeze a hand and register displeasure by accelerating her heart rate and breathing.

Some scholars and clergy say it will be difficult to prove that someone like that lived the life of a saint.

"They might be hard pressed to prove that she had this will to embrace Christian virtues and to live them," said Monsignor F. Stephen Pedone, who is helping to review Audrey's case for the Worcester Diocese. "She probably didn't even know what they were."

In past centuries, the church regularly canonized saints such as Joseph of Cupertino, a 17th-century Franciscan known as "the flying friar" for his ability to levitate, and Catherine of Siena, the 14th-century mystic who received the wounds of Christ. But over the last century, the church has shifted, scholars say. Pope Benedict XVI "is more interested in models than in miracle workers," said Lawrence S. Cunningham, a theologian at Notre Dame, and author of "A Brief History of Saints."

Emblematic of contemporary candidates for sainthood, Cunningham said, is the Rev. Solanus Casey. A Capuchin Franciscan, Casey worked for 20 years at the door of St. Bonaventure Monastery in Detroit, quietly counseling thousands, and earning the moniker "The Doorkeeper."

"When it comes to making saints, the Vatican is much more concerned that people are like us - that they live the virtues of faith over charity and wisdom," said the Rev. Paul G. Robichaud, who is leading a movement to canonize Isaac Hecker, who founded the Missionary Society of St. Paul the Apostle in New York in 1858. "And when you hear about these apparitions or levitations or weeping statues, this catches the public imagination, but it does not impress the Vatican."

Candidates for sainthood must undergo a series of investigations by church officials, theologians, canon lawyers, and medical personnel. The local diocese conducts the first review and, if it sees fit, hands the case to the Vatican, which conducts its own investigation. Supporters must demonstrate that the candidate performed two miracles after death for people who prayed to the saint for help.

Keane said Audrey's supporters have just begun the process, by reviewing her medical records and the mountains of mail she received, and by taking depositions from those whose lives she changed.

Linda Santo declined to be interviewed for this story. In past interviews, she has said she believes Audrey was a "victim soul," someone chosen by God to accept the suffering of others. Before Audrey died, pilgrims, many suffering terminal illnesses or seeking relief from abusive relationships, flocked to the home to pray for miracles. Some bought mementos - crucifixes that had been placed in her room, magnets with Audrey's photograph, and videos that purport to show religious statues weeping oil and blood.

In 1999, during the height of the pilgrimages, Pedone helped lead a 14-month investigation of the weeping statues and bloody hosts, concluding that they were "deep mysteries," but not definitive miracles. He said the movement to canonize Audrey is generating a mixed response among local Catholics.

"There is some support, but there are some people who are really skeptical," Pedone said. "The danger for some people is that it's not faith, it's more emotionalism, and that's the concern the bishop has, that people's hopes are raised about miraculous healings and there's no foundation for it."

Several times a week, worshippers still pray at the Santo home, in a dimly lit chapel in the garage. On a recent morning, an assistant, an older woman, sat in the back of the chapel, reading a prayer book. A man entered with his wife, knelt on the floor, and raised his hands in prayer. After a few minutes, he wiped away a tear, thanked the assistant, and left with his wife.

Scott, a 59-year-old substance abuse counselor, said she had many such experiences in the Santo home. She recalled moments of quiet prayer and unforgettable sightings - of blood that dripped from the crown of thorns on a bust of Jesus and oil that wept so heavily from paintings that it had to be collected with cups and gauze.

"God is so supreme, and to put anybody right in direct line with him is something we need to think about," Scott said. "But I have never been so consumed with holiness and grace as I was at Audrey's house. It was just unbelievable. I think Audrey certainly is a saint. In my eyes, I've never seen anything like it."