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'John Paul II cured me'
30/03/2007 15:13 - (SA)
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| Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre at the Aix-en-Provence's Archdiocese, southern France, after saying she was "cured" of Parkinson's disease in 2005. (Claude Paris, AP) |
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Aix-En-Provence, France - A French nun at the centre of a Vatican case to beatify pope John Paul II says she was cured of Parkinson's disease by the late pontiff.
"I am cured. It is the work of God, through the intercession of pope John Paul II," said Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre, smiling broadly before a barrage of television cameras.
"It's something very strong, very difficult to put into words," she said.
The 46-year-old nun held her first news conference since the Vatican revealed that her testimony of being cured by John Paul II could provide evidence of a miracle that is essential for the beatification of the late pope.
Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre had been suffering from Parkinson's, a degenerative disease of the nervous system, since 2002, but has testified that she was cured in April 2005 after praying to John Paul II.
She recounted how she had suddenly been able to write legibly after struggling for months to hold a pen, the disease having progressed to the point that she no longer controlled motion in her hand.
"I came across a sister who had helped me tremendously and I told her as I held up my hand, my left hand, 'look, my hand is no longer trembling'," she said.
"Jean Paul II has cured me."
A member of a Catholic congregation from Puyricard, near Aix-en-Provence, Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre had been working as a nurse at a Paris maternity clinic since late 2006.
Vatican inquiry
Her identity had been kept secret during a year-long Vatican inquiry into her claims that she had been cured through the late pope's intercession.
"I was sick and now I am cured. It's up to the church to say whether this is a miracle," said the nun during the news conference held in the southern city of Aix-en-Provence.
Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre was due to travel to Rome to take part in the process that is to culminate with the beatification of John Paul II, which would put him on the first step to sainthood.
She will attend a solemn ceremony on Monday, the second anniversary of John Paul II's death, when the beatification dossier is to be handed over to the Vatican's saint-making body.
- AFP
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