Pope Francis Authorizes Decrees for 2 Miracles and Approves Decrees for Several People on the Road to Canonization as Saints

Promulgation of Decrees of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, 14.12.2023
Today, during the Audience granted to His Most Reverend Eminence Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, the Supreme Pontiff authorized the same Dicastery to promulgate the Decrees regarding:
- the miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Moisés Lira Serafín, professed Priest of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit, Founder of the Congregation of the Missionaries of Charity of Mary Immaculate; born in Zacatlán (Mexico) on 16 September 1893 and died in Mexico City (Mexico) on 25 June 1950;

. Moisés Lira Serafín was a Mexican priest of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit from the Puebla area. During the religious persecution in 1926, he distinguished himself for his missionary dedication, which he shared with a group of acolytes and catechists. Later, in 1934, he also founded the Congregation of the Missionaries of Charity of Mary Immaculate. Father Moisés died in Mexico City in 1950. The miraculous healing of a woman has been attributed to his intercession. Rosa María Ramírez Mendoza was pregnant and discovered at 22 weeks that her baby was suffering from a very serious foetal abnormality. She refused the suggestion of doctors to end the pregnancy through abortion, faithfully entrusting her situation to Father Moisés, whose book about his priestly vocation she was reading at the time, and invoking healing from him for nine consecutive days. At a check-up in the sixth month of her pregnancy, the doctor, to her amazement, informed Rosa María that the abnormality had disappeared and the baby was in good health. On 6 September 2004 she gave birth to Lissette Sarahí, a perfectly healthy baby girl.
- the miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Anna of Jesus (born: Anna de Lobera y Torres), professed nun of the Order of Discalced Carmelites; born in Medina del Campo (Spain) on 25 November 1545 and died in Brussels (Belgium) on 4 March 1621;

Anne of Jesus, a Spanish Discalced Carmelite, was born in 1545. In 1570, she entered the monastery of Ávila, where she was taught by St Teresa of Jesus herself. With her she moved shortly afterwards to Salamanca and in 1570, she met St John of the Cross, who dedicated to her the commentary of the Spiritual Canticle. Later, Anne founded new monasteries in Spain as well as in France and Belgium. She died in 1621, at the age of 75, in the monastery in Brussels, which she led for 14 years. The miracle attributed to her intercession concerned a younger Carmelite sister, Sister Jeanne of the Holy Spirit, whom she met in the Brussels monastery. On 24 April 1613, Sister Jeanne was struck by a high fever for about ten days and showed the first symptoms of paralysis in her lower limbs. The illness worsened, and by the end of 1619, the nun became completely paralyzed in her legs and was bedridden, deprived of treatment by the doctors because she was considered incurable. On 4 March 1621, four hours after Anne of Jesus’ death, Sr Jeanne asked the sisters to be brought before her body. While attempting to kiss the body with the help of two sisters, Sr Jeanne was assailed by a sudden tremor. The sisters, believing she had fallen ill, placed her in the chair in which they had carried her, but Sister Jeanne immediately said she felt recovered. She began to walk and knelt before the body of the Venerable Servant of God. On that day she resumed walking and carrying out the activities of daily life and community life normally. From the testimonies it appears that the Venerable Servant of God Anne of Jesus was saddened by the illness of Sister Jeanne of the Holy Spirit and, a few days before she died, had expressed the intention to intercede, after her death, for her recovery.
- the martyrdom of the Servant of God Giuseppe Rossi, diocesan priest; born on 3 November 1912 in Varallo Pombia (Italy) and killed out of hatred for the faith on 26 February 1945 near Castiglione Ossola (Italy);
- the martyrdom of the Servants of God Luigi Carrara and Giovanni Didonè, professed priests of the Pious Society of Saint Francis Xavier for Foreign Missions, Vittorio Faccin, professed religious of the same Pious Society, and Albert Joubert, diocesan priest; killed out of hatred for the faith on 28 November 1964 in Baraka and Fizi (Democratic Republic of Congo);
- the martyrdom of the Servant of God Ján Havlík, Seminarian of the Society of Missionaries of St. Vincent de Paul; born on 12 February 1928 in Vlčkovany (Slovakia) and died out of hatred for the faith on 27 December 1965 in Skalica (Slovakia);
- the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Alberto Beretta (born Enrico), professed priest of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin; born on 28 August 1916 in Milan (Italy) and died on 10 August 2001 in Bergamo (Italy);

Capuchin religious Father Alberto Beretta (born on 28 August 1916 in Milan and died on 10 August 2001 in Bergamo), was the brother of Saint Gianna Beretta Molla. Alberto became a doctor and desired to become a Capuchin priest and go as a missionary to Brazil, where he worked for 33 years. A cerebral haemorrhage brought him back to Italy in 1982, and for almost 20 years he lived between the Capuchin infirmary in Bergamo (the hospital where he was hospitalized due to his worsening clinical situation), and the home of his brother Fr Giuseppe. He took part in the beatification of his sister by John Paul II in '94. He died in Bergamo on 10 August 2001.
- the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Ernesto Guglielmo Cofiño Ubico, Faithful Layman and Family Father; born on 5 June 1899 in Ciudad de Guatemala (Guatemala) and died there on 17 October 1991

The layman and family man Ernesto Guglielmo Cofiño Ubico, was born in 1899 in Guatemala. He became a doctor and created and directed the chair of Paediatrics in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of San Carlos for 24 years. In 1933 he married Clemencia Samayoa Rubio, with whom he had five children. He collaborated with various organizations for the education and instruction of peasants, workers, and women with little financial means; and in the training of young university students. He was a tenacious defender of the right to life of unborn children. In 1956 he joined Opus Dei and intensified his relationship with God, through a profound sacramental life and Marian devotion. On 8 December 1961, Pope John XXIII made him a Knight of the Order of St. Sylvester. A widower in 1963, he intensified his commitment to the “Work.” A tumour in his jaw led to his death in 1991.
- the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Francesca Lancellotti, Faithful Laywoman and Mother of the Family; born on 7 July 1917 in Oppido Lucano (Italy) and died on 4 September 2008 in Rome (Italy).

Francesca Lancellotti, who was born in Basilicata in 1917, lived a life characterized by charisms and mystical gifts but lived in total humility and a deep sense of poverty. From a very young age, she worked in the fields. She studied until second grade, and dedicated herself to an intense life of prayer, venerati

ng in particular the Madonna della Purità of the Sanctuary of Belvedere in Oppido. She desired to be a nun, but her father wanted her to marry; and in 1938 she celebrated her marriage to Faustino Zotta, a saddler and farmer, with whom she had two children. She opened a tobacconist’s, liquor, and food shop while continuing to cultivate her spiritual life. Following an alleged private revelation in July 1956, and after selling the business and property, Francesca moved with her family to Rome in 1960. They lived first in the Primavalle district, later near the Pantheon, and finally on the Via del Seminario, where she regularly attended the Church of St Augustine. Her house became a centre of refuge for the needy and for those who asked for spiritual and material help. She died in 2008 at the San Giovanni Addolorata hospital in Rome.

Sources - Vatican.va and Vatican News