Devotees' faith must be considered for the canonization of Venerable Agnelo: Fr Hilario

Pilar: When the medical fraternity had failed to provide the necessary treatment for various grave and complicated illnesses, divine intervention has helped the faithful to receive the desired results. All the same, the canonization of Venerable Fr Agnelo de Souza has still not seen the light of the day.
Speaking about the hurdles along the path of canonization of this holy man, the vice-postulator for the cause of sainthood of Venerable Fr Agnelo and the vicar general of the society of Pilar, Fr Hilario Fernandes, said that many doctors find it difficult to draw a line between nature and supernatural forces."It is a genuine difficulty, no doubt about it. Today science has developed so much, that it is difficult to say where science ends and where the supernatural powers begin to come in," he added.
Fernandes, who is also the chairman of formation of priests and seminarians, said that there are cases which are beyond science and everyone has to accept this fact. As everything cannot be explained, he stated that we need to get into the other realm or go beyond science.
With regards to the canonization process, the vice-postulator mentioned that the Church has its own laws. "Pope Francis seems to have made exception to some of the stringent Church laws with the canonization of Pope John XXIII without any miracle and Pope John Paul II without the second miracle," he stated.
The vicar general of the society said it looks that the Church today is looking afresh with regards to the process of canonization and it would be good for it to take into consideration the situation of the third world countries in Asia and India by viewing simply the staunch faith of the devotees.
He cited a case wherein Farida Gomendes from Sirlim was due for delivery in the fifth month of pregnancy. "As the doctors told her that within two days the baby would be born, she was afraid of losing her child. With deep faith, she drank water mixed with mud of the grave of Fr Agnelo and prayed fervently to save the child. Surprisingly, the baby remained in the womb for nine months and she had a safe delivery with a healthy baby," he revealed.
Fernandes disclosed that there are several cases rejected by the doctors, but faith has helped turn all hopeless cases into big successes. "Why can't faith and other elements like devotees flocking to the tomb of the saintly man be considered for the canonization process?" he questioned.
"Although our Goan brother has not attained sainthood, we are not in haste and discouraged as I believe God in His own time will give us the required first class miracle," Fernandes said. "The beauty and the reality of it is that thousands of devotees in India and abroad have accepted Venerable Agnelo as a saint on the altar of their hearts," he concluded.