Future Saint? Book on 100 alleged miracles of Alfonso Maria Fusco to be published

Future Saint? Book on 100 alleged miracles of Alfonso Maria Fusco to be published

The following news excerpt is from RomeReports.com:

Ten years after his beatification an Italian blessed is getting closer to becoming a saint. Alfonso Maria Fusco founded the Congregation of the Sisters of San Giovanni Battista.

Over the years, the sisters from that congregation have collected information on roughly 100 alleged miracles of the Blessed Italian. The writings will be made into a book in the future.

It will include the alleged healing of a child who suffered from malaria in Zambia. Even though the boy's mother wasn't Catholic, she asked a nun to pray for her son.

The book will include other possible miracles that range from physical healings to overcoming moral difficulties.

Blessed Fusco was born in 1839 in Angri, which is located in southern Italy. At the age of 11 he decided to be a priest to help others. Once he was ordained his first assignment was to help underprivileged children from his hometown.

The priest was known for walking along the streets of his town, looking for the poor and offering them help. He would offer them food and education. From this mission, the Congregation of St. John the Baptist was born.

Read more: Alfonso Maria Fusco

Teenage Martyr could become the Philippine's Second Saint

Teenage martyr could become the Philippine's second saint

The following excerpt is from RomeReports.com:

According to Filipino bishops, the Vatican has officially attributed a miracle to a blessed Filipino martyr named Pedro Calungsod. Now, this miracle paves the way for his canonization.

The 17 year old Filipino was beatified back in the year 2000 by Pope John Paul II. The miracle deals with a woman who was declared brain dead, but was inexplicably cured just a few hours later.

The young blessed was born in Cebu, Philippines back in 1654. He died along with Spanish missionary Diego Luis de San Vitores, while they evangelized to natives. In fact, the first time people learned about the work of the teenager, was through the memoirs of Spanish priest San Vitores.

The Philippines was very proud to learn about the faithful teenager, especially his hometown of Cebu, where Calungsod has a sanctuary and has been declared a patron of the youth.

Mhar Vincent Balili
Archdiocese of Cebu (Philippines)

“Hopefully the canonization of blessed Pedro Calungsod will tell that the youth is not only a recipient of the Gospel but they too can be the givers of the Word of God. And now, for the coming of the canonization of the blessed Pedro Calungsod, we can say that now we can really have a countryman, in our dialect we call a 'tagilungsod,' whom we can call also for our prayers and intercession”.

Now the next step is for Benedict XVI to actually ratify the miracle. The pope could make an announcement in the coming weeks. If that's the case, the blessed teenager would eventually become the Philippine's second saint. The first one is San Lorenzo Ruiz, who was canonized in Rome in the year 1988.