Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Catholic Church begins process to beatify 9-year-old Brazilian girl

The Roman Catholic archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro are launching a process aimed at putting a Brazilian girl on the path to sainthood.
 
Archbishop Orani Tempesta and Vatican representatives on Friday began the process to beatify Odette Vidal de Oliveira, who was 9 when she died of meningitis in 1939.

The Rev. Joao Claudio Loureriro do Nascimento is a historian and member of the archdiocese commission that studies potential candidates for sainthood. 

He says the next step is to obtain proof of miracles attributed to Oliveira. 

One miracle is needed for beatification and a second for canonization — the process of declaring a person a saint.

Nascimento says one miracle attributed to Oliveira was the recovery of a woman who suffered a serious hemorrhage after giving birth.