Order of Carmelites

Titus Brandsma, a step closer to sainthood

/ Carmel News, Titus Brandsma / By

Good news!

Last September 26, 2020, medical experts affirmed that the cure of Carmelite priest Michael Driscoll, O.Carm. from stage 4 melanoma skin cancer is scientifically unexplainable.

The team of experts were appointed by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to investigate the claim that the cure is attributable to Bl. Titus Brandsma.

Brandsma is a Dutch Carmelite martyred in the concentration camp of Dachau at the height of Nazi atrocities. He is the patron of Philippine Carmel.

Titus Brandsma was beatified by St. John Paul II on November 3, 1985.

With the confirmation by medical experts, a special Congress of theologians will then be convened in order to judge and affirm the positive connection between the invocation of Bl. Titus Brandsma and Fr. Driscoll’s recovery, and assess other theological requirements in keeping with the norms.

An Ordinary Session of Cardinal and Bishop members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints will then be convened before the Prefect of the Congregation would turn the cause over to the Pope for his approval.

The Pope will then ask the opinion of the Cardinals and Bishops in the surrounding districts of Rome before calling for an Ordinary Consistory to confirm the opinion of the Cardinals and Bishops and eventually announce the date of the canonisation.

Fr. Driscoll was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma skin cancer in 2004. This particular condition is the most serious type of skin cancer with a 15 to 20 percent chance of healing. But 16 years after receiving treatment, the cancer never returned and Driscoll is now considered to be cancer-free.

Let us continue to pray, with Bl. Titus Brandsma’s intercession, that he will finally be elevated into the canon of Saints and continue to inspire us to strive for holiness.

Photo grabbed from churchmilitant.com.