Servants of the Servant

VATICAN CITY, 14 FEB 2008 (VIS) - The Holy See Press Office released the following communique yesterday evening:

  “This evening in the cathedral of Coimbra, Portugal, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins C.M.F., president of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, presided at a Mass marking the third anniversary of the death of Sister Lucia dos Santos. Following the ceremony he announced that the Holy Father Benedict XVI, benevolently accepting a request presented by Bishop Albino Mamede Cleto of Coimbra and shared by many bishops and faithful throughout the world, has waived the five-year waiting period established by canonical norms (art. 9 of “Normae servandae”) and granted that, just three years after the death of Sister Lucia (known to the world as one of the three seers of Fatima), the diocesan stage of the cause for her beatification may begin”.

Source:
V.I.S. -Vatican Information Service.
Copyright © Vatican Information Service 00120 Vatican City

“What do you say when the pope’s assistant calls and invites you to an audience with his Holiness?

“Let me look at my schedule,” laughed organ transplant activist George Marcello, the former drug addict who had two liver transplants and spends his time promoting organ donor awareness in Canada.

The Toronto man got the call in 2000 while on a 769-day, cross-Canada walk in which he carried a torch to raise awareness.

“I thought it was my friend Billy pulling a prank on me,” he said.

The next year Marcello travelled to the Vatican where Pope John Paul II blessed his torch and his mission.”

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