THE CONCHO PADRE POST

Bishop Pfeifer has announced that he will offer a Mass for Pope Benedict XVI on Tuesday, February 26 at 12 noon in the Cathedral. Everyone is invited!

The Concho Padre

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints has received the dossier on a case of miraculous healing attributed to the Pope. The documentation is now in the hands of the medical commission

ANDREA TORNIELLI
vatican city

There is a presumed miracle that has been attributed to the intercession of John Paul II. The Postulator of the Cause, Mgr. Slawomir Oder presented this inexplicable case of healing to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints headed by Cardinal Angelo Amato, a month ago. The dossier is now in the hands of the medical commission. It all took place in the utmost secrecy and confidentiality. But Amato himself and the Archbishop of Cracow, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz – who had been Pope Wojtyla’s personal secretary and a big promoter of his canonization – had already discussed this three weeks ago. The Polish pope’s “inner circle” therefore hoped Wojtyla would receive the title of Saint by 2013.

A reliable source has confirmed to Vatican Insider that a step forward has been made, even if the alleged healing has not yet been examined by the Congregation’s medical commission, headed by Dr. Patrizio Polisca, Benedict XVI’s personal doctor. As is known, in order for a beatification to take place, the Catholic Church needs to guarantee and recognise a miracle attributed to the intercession of the candidate for sainthood and this miracle needs to have occurred after the death of the person who performed it. A second miracle needs to be confirmed in order to move up a step from beatification to canonization, an act proclaimed by the Pope, which implies infallibility and makes the worship of a saint universal. The second miracle must have been performed after the individual’s beatification. In the case of Wojtyla, it took place after the ceremony on 1 May 2011 in the presence of a huge crowd.

It is now up to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to assess the case and decide whether the case presented has the necessary attributes for the medical commission – composed of various specialists called to give their thoughts on the scientific inexplicability of the healing – to approve it. Wojtyla was beatified for having healed a French nun, Sister Simon Pierre, who worked in a hospital’s maternity ward, from Parkinson’s disease. She had the same syndrome as John Paul II. The sisters prayed for the Pope when he passed away. And Sister Marie Simon Pierre was suddenly cured. The procedure for the recognition of this case of healing was not at all easy because it is difficult to give a precise diagnosis of certain neurological illnesses. Not all the doctors consulted gave their approval even though the Congregation’s final assessment was positive.

Could Benedict XVI’s shock resignation slow down Pope Wojtyla’s canonization process? In theory not, because the Congregation for the Causes of Saints will continue its work as normal until 28 February. But the Conclave and the first steps taken by the new Pope could justify any delay there may be to the dates expected by the Polish Pope’s entourage. What is certain is that the late Pope is a step closer to sainthood. But it is not possible to predict the exact time frame for the process yet and we still have to wait for the doctors in the “saint factory” to make their assessment and pass the dossier on to the theologians and cardinals.

Vatican Information Service

Irondale, Ala., Feb 15, 2013 (EWTN News).- Deacon R. William Steltemeier, Jr., founding president of the Eternal Word Television Network, died in Hanceville, Ala. on Feb. 15 at the age of 83 after a lengthy illness.

Michael P. Warsaw, current network president and CEO, called Deacon Steltemeier “a man of incredible faithfulness,” noting that only EWTN founder Mother Angelica was more closely associated with the network.

“As a husband, a father, an attorney and in his vocation as a permanent deacon, Bill always remained focused on serving God and serving others,” Warsaw said.

“He devoted himself totally to Mother Angelica’s mission and sacrificed all he had to help her build EWTN into the tremendous vehicle for evangelization that it has become.”

Warsaw added: “While we mourn his passing, we take comfort from his own example of faith and are confident he has heard those words from the Gospel of Matthew, ‘Well done good and faithful servant…enter into the joy of your master.’”

Deacon Steltemeier was born in Nashville, Tenn. on June 6, 1929. He married Ramona Schnupp on Aug. 22, 1953. He graduated from Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt Law School before entering the U.S. Army and serving for two years in France.

He co-founded the law firm of Steltemeier & Westbrooke in Nashville in 1960. The firm specializes in bankruptcy and commercial law and continues to operate today.

Bishop Joseph A. Durick of Nashville ordained Steltemeier to the diaconate on April 26, 1975. He was among the first American men ordained to the permanent diaconate.

Deacon Steltemeier first met Mother Angelica at a legal convention in Chicago in March 1978.

When he heard Mother Angelica speak, he heard an inner voice say “Until the day you die.” He believed this to mean his life would be dedicated to serving Mother Angelica.

When EWTN was founded in 1980, Deacon Steltemeier became its first president and board member. He resigned from his law firm in 1985 to serve EWTN full-time. He commuted from his Nashville home to EWTN headquarters in Irondale, Ala. for 22 years.

In 2000, the deacon succeeded Mother Angelica as EWTN’s chairman and CEO. He and his wife moved to Hanceville, Ala. in 2002. He retired as CEO in 2009, but was re-elected chairman of EWTN’s Board of Governors the same year.

Deacon Steltemeier worked in various aspects of prison ministry and prisoner rehabilitation. In 1975, the Governor of Tennessee appointed him to the state’s review board for prison reform. He also served as Catholic chaplain to the Tennessee State Prison for Men.

In October 2009, Pope Benedict XVI awarded Deacon Steltemeier the pontifical medal Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice.

The deacon is survived by his wife of 59 years, his brother Fred Steltemeier of Nashville, and several nieces. His son Rudy Steltemeier III and daughter-in-law Debra Steltemeier preceded him in death.

EWTN News Release

Many of us who are my age and older will remember this one. Maybe it’s time to bring it back!
(both now for Benedict and then again for the new Pope, whenever he is chosen)

Long Live The Pope
(A Hymn for the Pope)

Long live the Pope!
His praises sound
Again and yet again:
His rule is over space and time:
His throne the hearts of men:
All hail! The Shepherd Pope of Rome,
The theme of loving song:
Let all the earth his glory sing
And heav’n the strain prolong.

Then raise the chant,
With heart and voice,
In Church & school & home:
“Long live the Shepherd of the Flock!
Long live the Pope of Rome!”
Almighty Father bless his work,
Protect him in his ways,
Receive his prayer, fulfill his hopes,
And grant him length of days!

The Concho Padre

One of the nuns that lived in the monastery where the Pope will retire says his choice shows his “great simplicity” because it “is not a work of art or comparable with other Vatican buildings.”

“His decision to retire has surprised me, but he is very brave, although he is fragile and elderly,” said the nun from the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary, who requested anonymity because of her cloistered life.

“But this decision is proof that he has a very lucid mind,” she stated, adding that “our self love does not allow us to see our own limitations, contrary to what Pope Benedict has done.”

“If I loved him before,” she declared, “now I love him even more.”

The sisters led a simple life with no staff. They spent their time praying and, for their 400th anniversary, the nuns made making liturgical vestments for Pope Benedict to donate to poorer churches.

“One week before we left he asked us: ‘what will the Pope do without you?’ and he asked us to keep praying for him,” said the nun.

“His decision has made us cry, but he has been very brave,” she added.

The monastery, called Mater Ecclesiae, is 4,300 square feet and lies just west of St. Peter’s Basilica.

It contains a chapel, a choir room, a library, a semi-basement, a terrace and a visiting room that was added in 1993.

When Pope Benedict XVI announced on Feb. 11 that he was going to resign from the papacy and live in the convent, speculation began to circulate about when he made his decision, since renovations began in Nov. 2012.

According to the Spanish nun, who currently resides in a convent in Madrid, the building had not been refurbished in 18 years and needed minor repairs.

“We had humidity in the basement, the windows needed changing, and the terrace on top needed fixing and painting because of past snow,” she explained.

“But the building is very small, so they had to wait for us to leave to begin working on it.”

Reflecting on her experience living in the Vatican convent, the Visitation nun said she and her fellow religious felt intensely that they “were the heart of the Church.”

“It was an experience that is very hard to put into words.

Their mission was to pray for the Pope, for his trips, and accompany him in prayer on a daily basis.

The Spanish nun recalled how Pope Benedict would often thank them for their prayers and regularly checked up on their general well-being.

He originally wanted French nuns to live in the monastery, she explained, but due to the small number of vocations in France he decided it would be better to pick them from Spain.

The monastery was established in 1994 by Blessed John Paul II as a place dedicated solely to prayer for the Pope, his ministry and the cardinals.

The order of the Visitation of St. Mary was picked from among many other religious groups to live in the monastery from Oct. 7, 2009 until Oct. 7, 2012. 


Their stay was extended for 15 days and they left the monastery on Oct. 22, just after Bl. John Paul’s feast day.

The seven sisters all came from convents in Spain, but one was from Colombia and another from Equatorial Guinea.

EWTN News