Healings linked to woman who had been in coma
 | Audrey Santo nearly drowned in her family pool in 1987. |
The believers came to Audrey Santo to pray, to ask for miracles, and to see the girl who was said to be touched by the divine, following her near-drowning in the family pool at age 3. Those same believers may one day pray to Saint Audrey Santo.
Members of The Little Audrey Santo Foundation launched a campaign last week to see Santo, who lapsed into a comatose-like state after her accident in 1987, canonized, after Bishop Robert J. McManus of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Worcester recognized the group as a "private association of the faithful." "I gave them what you call 'canonical recognition,' " McManus said yesterday. This means, he said, that the foundation may now try to persuade the Vatican to beatify and later canonize Santo, or make her a saint.
Santo attracted a following about two years after falling into her family's swimming pool, as people who cared for the girl began to tell stories about statues weeping oil and blood-stained Communion wafers. Word about miraculous healings also eventually spread.
The Diocese of Worcester investigated the stories and eventually concluded in 1999 that the happenings were "deep mysteries," but not definitive miracles.
Robert Keane, clerk of the Santo foundation, said he will be helping investigators in Rome to check out Santo's case for sainthood. Normally, five years must pass before a case for canonization can be made, but Keane said the foundation is hoping to receive a waiver. He also said he believes one posthumous miracle has occurred, but would not elaborate. Keane said he would love to see Santo named "the saint that would show the value of human life in all its forms."
"When you were in her presence, you would just feel a calming, holy, healing aura," he said. "You knew that this was something powerful and special."
McManus said that in order for Santo to be declared a saint, at least twomiracles must be attributed to her after her death.
"It could take years and years and years," McManus said. "In some cases it's taken centuries for some people to be named saints."
If one miracle is proven, McManus added, Santo would be beatified, and could then be called "blessed."
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