NEWS FROM PAGES PAST
50 years ago — Aug. 28, 1964
The Most Reverend James J. Sweeney, Bishop of Honolulu, posed with this year’s graduating class from St. Francis School of Nursing at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace. The graduating nurses are front row (left to right): Grace Tomiko Hiraki, Carmen Ann Felipe, Vicky Hideno Furuta, Sherry Akiko Yamasaki, Fuatupe Emeline Faoliu, Rowena M. Choy. (Back row) Elizabeth Sanae Asato, Judith Nobuko Akagi, Aletia Ruth Cabigas, Elizabeth Louise Saffery, Mary Juanita Palada, and Joanne Burton Gleason. (Photo by Hinkel)
25 years ago — Sept. 1, 1989
Vatican accepts documents on Mother Marianne’s cause
The Vatican has given its seal of approval to the canonization cause of Mother Marianne Cope with its official acceptance of the collected research and testimony on her life presented by the Diocese of Honolulu last November. The process now moves to formal preparation for declaring the Franciscan nun, famous for her work among the Hansen’s disease patients in Kalaupapa, “venerable.” …
In a letter from the Vatican’s Sacred Congregation for the Cause of Saints dated July 14, prefect Cardinal Angelus Felici stated that the collection of documentation and testimony on Mother Marianne was done properly and validly and that the case may go forward. …
After Mother Marianne is named venerable, the verification of a miracle, “divine proof,” is sought to earn her the title “blessed.”
10 years ago — Aug. 27, 2004
Pope shares physical weakness of pilgrims at Lourdes
Sharing the physical weakness of thousands of his fellow pilgrims at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, Pope John Paul II prayed for comfort for those who suffer, for the protection of every human life and for peace in the world.
Although he was fine for most of the Aug. 14-15 pilgrimage, his initial visit of the weekend to the Massabielle grotto, where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous, was emotional and difficult. …
Greeting the sick, the pope’s text said, “With you I share a time of life marked by physical suffering, yet not for that reason any less fruitful in God’s wondrous plan.”
In his text, the pope said he always has relied on and benefited from the prayer offerings of those who suffer. He asked the sick to join him “in offering to God, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, all the intentions of the church and the world.”
