Thursday 5 September 2013

"Pope Benedict cured me."


Vatican Insider reports the healing of this young man from a tumour in the chest.  There is a video here on U.S. World News.

MARCO TOSATTI reports:
19 year old American, Peter Srisch, claims he was cured from a tumour after meeting Ratzinger and receiving his blessing a year ago.
 A young American – who is now 19 and in his second year at university – claims he was cured of a chest tumour thanks to Ratzinger, who met the boy at an audience in Rome last year. Ratzinger listened to his story and placed his hand on the boy’s chest where the tumour was. Peter Srisch and his family appeared on Denver-based KUSA TV and confirmed their belief publicly.

Peter was 17 when doctors diagnosed him with a chest tumour after doing an X-Ray. "He had a chest x-ray and it revealed a softball sized tumour in his chest. It was determined that it was stage four non-Hodgkin's lymphoma,"  Laura Srsich, Peter's mother, said.

Peter was being treated at Colorado Children’s Hospital and while doctors tried to do what they could to help him fight the disease, he was also being looked after by the U.S. non-profit  Make-a-Wish Foundation. The foundation works in about 50 countries across the world, offering assistance, including psychological support to children and young people with life-threatening medical conditions and granting each of them one wish. The Make-a-Wish Foundation was established in 1993 and has a strong presence in English-speaking countries but not only.

Laura Srsich said that when she spoke to Peter about it, the first wish that came to his mind was: 'I'd love to go meet the Pope in Rome.” His wish was relatively easy to grant  and so a year ago, in May, Peter and his mother attended one of Benedict XVI’s General Audiences in St. peter’s Square. They met and spoke to him and the encounter had a powerful effect on Peter. "When I got up to actually talk to him I was struck by how human he was. It was a humbling experience for me to see how humble he was,” Peter said. The Pope listened to Peter talk about his trip and his illness. The boy then gave Ratzinger a lime green wristband with the words "Praying for Peter” printed on it. Ratzinger reciprocated by blessing him.

But according to Peter and his family this wasn’t just any blessing; or at least it was very effective. "Then he blessed me. He put his hand right on my chest where the tumour had been. He didn't know where the tumour was, but he put his hand right there," Peter explained.
 
A year has gone by and Peter has made a full recovery from cancer, he is in his second year at university and one day hopes to be ordained a priest. Benedict XVI’s resignation as Bishop of Rome and Pope only strengthened the impression Peter was left with after their meeting. In Peter’s eyes, Benedict’s gesture showed he put the Catholic Church above himself and his personal needs. A very humble gesture. “I'm going to remember him as one of the most humble people in the world, especially by this last act he is doing," Peter said.

A similar healing case was reported during John Paul II’s pontificate. An elderly Jewish American man was apparently cured of a brain tumour after attending a “private” morning mass with John Paul II and taking part in the Eucharist.

1 comment:

Rhoslyn said...

I'm not trying to be skeptical but it would be difficult to know if his recovery came from God working through Pope Benedict or through the treatment Peter received. Of course, I can well believe that God would work through Pope Benedict, given that he was the Pope at the time and clearly a very holy man.

Does God work miracles only through saints or can he work through non-saints too? I know that we are God's tools, but I'm not sure if God would pick me (that is, somebody who is definitely NOT a living saint!) as a tool for one of His miracles though God *does* work miracles through 40 Days For Life and I've been part of that, so in that way perhaps sinners can be God's tools for His miracles?

If God seems to work miracles of this sort only through saints though, does that mean that Pope Benedict is a living saint? But then, Pope Benedict has not always been perfect has he...but then lots of saints did imperfect (or even wrong) things in their past and then went on to become saints.

This is something that confuses me regarding Pope John-Paul II too (though I am not comparing his pontificate with that of Pope Benedict XVI). I just can't get my head around Pope John-Paul II being a saint when there were things that happened during his pontificate which were really not good (I'm not a sedevacantist, I swear, I AM loyal to the Pope and I pray for him everyday, but that is true, isn't it). I know that is a controversial thing to say but I know I am far from being the only person who is confused by it all :( Fr Henry, please could you shed some light on this?