Praying to John Paul II saved me’ Floribeth Mora Díaz
The miracle healing of a Costa Rican woman from Dulce Nombre de Tres Rios, east of San José, will elevate Pope John Paul II to sainthood, confirmed Pope Franciscus from the Vatican in Rome.
After a long period of research and silence, the pontiff announced the decree confirming that the cure by John Paul II of the Floribeth Mora Díaz.
Mora told the world by way of a website, that she was healed of a brain aneurysm after John Paul II prayed for her. “I asked John Paul II to help me and I was healed”, said Mora.
The statements came to the attention of the Archdiocese of San José and later, the case went to the ecclesiastical authorities in Rome.
Following an exhaustive investigation, the Vatican concluded the late pontiff was indeed responsible for her healing, according to Italian media reports.
John Paul had already been credited with asking God to cure French nun Marie Simon-Pierre Normand of Parkinson’s disease, which helped lead to his beatification in 2011, when he was declared a “blessed” of the Church.
Two confirmed miracles are usually required under Vatican rules for the declaration of a saint.
The Polish pope John Paul reigned from 1978 until he died in 2005 and played a key role in the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, while his ambitious missions abroad attracted millions of faithful.
‘Praying to John Paul II saved me’ Floribeth Mora Díaz
Floribeth Mora Díaz was told there was no hope. Taken to hospital, she was devastated to discover that her persistent headaches were the result of an aneurysm in the brain. The doctors said her days were numbered.
The mother of four, in her 50s, returned to her humble home in Tres Rios.
There, in May 2011, in front of their candlelit shrine to Pope John Paul II, surrounded by brightly-coloured plastic flowers, rosaries and homemade crucifixes, her husband told her she should pray.
Mora was “cured” by praying to Pope John Paul II, they claim, and this “miracle” has now led to his being made a saint – with the ceremony marking his ascension expected in December. It will be the fastest time in modern history that someone has been declared a saint.
“How can it be that in this small country, such as Costa Rica; in this poor small neighbourhood, this miracle took place?” said one of Mora’s neighbours, standing outside her home. “It is amazing. I don’t have words to describe it.”
The Moras are a traditional Catholic family. Alejandro Vargas Román, the neurosurgeon who treated Mora, says he is convinced that her recovery is the result of divine intervention.
“Of course it’s true,” he told La Nacion. “I am a Catholic, and as a doctor with many years of experience I do believe in miracles. No one has been able to provide a medical explanation for what happened.”
The surgeon says he was questioned by Vatican authorities in San Jose, who concluded that the woman was saved by a miracle. “I talked to the priests, but maybe they were specialised in something,” he said. “They weren’t doctors; they were theologians or lawyers, so my role was that of medical investigation.”
But he is adamant that the science is sound.
José Rafael Quirós, bishop of San Jose, said: “The canonisation of one of our brothers, as a model of sainthood for the Church, brings great joy to us all.”
