A French bishop has opened the cause for canonisation of a nun who claimed she saw a consecrated host turn to bloody flesh in the hands of a priest.
Bishop Joseph de Metz-Noblat of Langres, France, initiated the sainthood cause of Mother Marie Adele Garnier, foundress of the Adorers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus of Montmartre OSB, or Tyburn Nuns, with a December 3 Mass. Afterward, diocesan officials signed an edict with Vatican officials, who travelled from Rome to the event at the nuns’ convent in Saint Loup-sur-Aujon.
In his homily, the bishop noted that Mother Garnier, foundress of the order of contemplative Benedictines, sought the will of God through adoration of the Eucharist. This, he said, led to authentic acts of charity and served as a model of evangelisation.
“As we rejoice with Mother Garnier, we want to point at her insistence of the contemplation of Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist,” said Bishop de Metz-Noblat.
He added: “With the help of the sisters, we want the evangelisation of our country but also the evangelisation of all the world.”
Mother Garnier died in Tyburn Convent, London, in 1924. Since the 1950s, her order has spread around the world with new houses founded in France, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Peru, Colombia and Ecuador.
Mother Xavier McMonagle, the assistant mother general, told Catholic News Service that the nuns have been sent thousands of letters of gratitude for divine favours at the foundress’s intercession and often receive requests from bishops to open new religious houses in dioceses all over the world.
Mother Marilla Aw, the Australian-born mother general, added that the nuns were overjoyed that the cause had finally opened.
“It was very exciting to see that happen,” she said. “It is a total celebration. It was such a surreal experience watching them (the officials) sign that document.”
Bishop clashes With Sturgeon
Bishop John Keenan of Paisley has voiced his objections to Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s plans to offer Northern Irish women NHS abortions.Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where abortion is illegal unless the mother’s life is at risk.
Some women from Northern Ireland choose to fund their own private terminations in other parts of the UK, which can cost from £400 to £2,000.
Bishop Keenan has spoken out against the suggestion made, according to the Scottish Catholic Observer (SCO).
He said: “If the Irish choose to respect life, who are we to say we know better! Apart from anything else it is surely only right to respect the democratic will of the Northern Irish people and the decision of the Northern Ireland Assembly.”
Nicola Sturgeon made the comments at First Minister’s Questions in November.
She said she would speak with NHS Scotland about “what the situation would be right now in terms of accessing safe and legal abortion for women from Northern Ireland within NHS Scotland and whether there’s any improvements that are able to be made.”
Sturgeon added: “I believe that women should have the right to choose, within the limits that are currently set down in law, and that right should be defended. When a woman opts to have an abortion — I stress that that is never, ever an easy decision for any woman — the procedure should be available in a safe and legal way.”
Northern Irish DUP politician Jim Wells told SCO that Sturgeon’s comments were “extremely unhelpful, unwarranted and she’d be better off dealing with her own issues.”
A spokesman from the Scottish Catholic Church added: “In offering to fund abortions for women coming to Scotland, politicians ignore the reality that abortion damages women and destroys a human life.
“Women and girls in a crisis pregnancy need support. There is always a better solution than abortion. Our legislators should be defending the weakest and most vulnerable in society, not exposing them to death.”
