Home / News & Publications / Michigan Catholic News / 2007 / Files of possible miracle for Ven. Solanus head to Rome
Files of possible miracle for Ven. Solanus head to Rome
Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published October 12, 2007
Detroit — When Bro. Leo Wollenweber, OFM Cap., flies to Rome Sunday, Oct. 14, he may be carrying with him details of the miracle that finally advances the Ven. Solanus Casey the next step on the way to being declared a saint.
"I have three cases that look promising, for which I have some medical records," said Bro. Wollenweber, vice postulator for the sainthood cause of the famous Capuchin who served as porter at St. Bonaventure Monastery in Detroit.
He will deliver the reports on the three remarkable healings to Fr. Florio Tessari, OFM Cap., postulator general for all Capuchin sainthood causes.
"We'll need people's prayers so that we'll have good success with this," Bro. Wollenweber said.
He said he will also give Fr. Tessari copies of the series of articles that ran in The Michigan Catholic in July and August on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Fr. Solanus' death.
Many astonishing healings were attributed to Fr. Solanus' prayers during his lifetime (1870-1957), and his virtue was recognized when he was declared venerable by the late Pope John Paul II.
But the next step on the way to being declared a saint, beatification, requires certification of a miracle attributable to his intercession after his death.
Bro. Wollenweber said the postulator general will turn the cases over to medical experts for their opinions: "If they feel there is enough evidence that any of the healings cannot be explained medically, then we will be advised to have Cardinal (Adam) Maida initiate the formal investigation through the archdiocesan Metropolitan Tribunal."
As explained in detail in the Aug. 17 Michigan Catholic, such an investigation involves the taking of testimony and the presentation of testimony and medical records in a trial setting.
If such a process is authorized, Msgr. Ricardo Bass, pastor of Prince of Peace Parish in West Bloomfield Township, would be Cardinal Maida's episcopal delegate and would function as the judge; Bro. Wollenweber, as vice postulator, would appear as Fr. Solanus' attorney; and Fr. Kenneth Kaucheck, pastor of Our Lady Star of the Sea, Grosse Pointe Woods, would serve as promoter of justice.
In that role, which used to be known as the devil's advocate, it would be Fr. Kaucheck's role to try to poke holes in the evidence presented by Bro. Wollenweber and the testimony of witnesses.
"It's quite an involved process. It takes all the little steps," Bro. Wollenweber remarked.
A previous case in the 1990s made it to the formal investigation stage, but eventually failed to win certification.
If one of three new cases is approved for a formal investigation and survives its trial, it would then return to Rome, this time to the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints. It would undergo further review by medical experts and, if they agree there is no medical explanation for the healing, it would come back to the congregation, which could send it to the pope with a recommendation for approval.
If the Holy Father concurs, Ven. Solanus would be beatified and become Blessed Solanus.
Bro. Wollenweber is hopeful for Fr. Solanus' eventual beatification — if not from one of these cases, then from another.
"We get a lot of reports from people who do have their prayers answered. People hear of Fr. Solanus and start praying, and wonderful things happen," he said.
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