Brother Andre approved for sainthood

MONTREAL - Pope Benedict XVI has approved sainthood for Brother Andre and will officially canonize him on October 17, a spokesperson for Saint-Joseph Oratory confirmed Friday morning.

Brother Andre, born Alfred Bessette in 1845, was credited with having miraculously cured many people. He died in Montreal in 1937 at the age of 91.

Brother Andre founded the Saint-Joseph Oratory in 1904 and was beatified by Pope Jean-Paul II in 1982.

Pope Benedict XVI made the announcement during a gathering with the Cardinals.

The process to make Brother Andre a saint has been a long one. Pressure on the Vatican to begin the sainthood proceedings began in 1941.

The canonization process began in the 1960s and Brother Andre was declared venerable in 1978, the first step leading to canonization.

Throughout the last few decades, some 10 million people have signed petitions calling for his canonization. When Brother Andre died, witnesses said that nearly one million people braved the bad weather to pay their respects.

The last hurdle in the canonization process was lifted by the Pope at the end of 2009 when he recognized a miraculous curing caused by Brother Andre's intervention.

Brother Andre's canonization will take place 20 years after that of Marie-Marguerite d`Youville, who founded the Congregation des Soeurs de la Charite. Pope Jean-Paul II performed the ceremony in 1990.

Brother Andre's cannonization was one of six announced by the Vatican on Friday.

By QMI AGENCY

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Mother Mary MacKillop

MacKillop, who lived from 1842 to 1909, is famous in Australia for having founded the Sisters of St. Joseph, an order dedicated to helping the poor.

She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1995, and in December 2009 Pope Benedict approved a decree recognizing a miracle which involved the healing of a person who had cancer and was cured after praying to MacKillop.

By QMI AGENCY

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