After Father Peter Mangum anointed a 98-year-old woman who had COVID-19, he couldn’t help but think of five French priests who sacrificed their lives to care for the sick through a yellow fever epidemic in the late nineteenth century. The Shreveport priest then thought of Fathers Jean Pierre, Narcisse Le Biler, François Le Vézouët, Isidore Quémerias and Louis Marie Gergaud – the French priests who came to Louisiana during the 1873 yellow fever epidemic.
Jesuit Father Pete Neeley said the announcement is an affirmation of the work he does at the Kino Border Initiative, a Jesuit-run program named for Padre Kino whose mission is to promote immigration policies along the U.S.-Mexico border that affirm the dignity of the human person. The initiative has locations in both sides of the border in Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora.
When Sister Charlene Smith first learned of Sister Thea Bowman’s cause for canonization, she was “pleased” but not “surprised.” She said Sister Thea was “a lot like Jesus” because of her “magnetic” personality.
Since the Oratory of St. Philip Neri was established in Brooklyn, its members have been praying for the canonization of one of the most famous affiliates of this religious community, the English Cardinal John Henry Newman. And their prayers have finally been answered.
The Vatican hung banners of the Catholic Church’s newly canonized saints four days before the Mass that officially recognized they are in heaven with God.
