A student from Minas Gerais Isabel Cristina Mrad Campos (1962-1982) she was made blessed even without having performed a miracle, a procedure that normally bases this degree of recognition within the Catholic Church. The student’s beatification ceremony took place on the last 10th, in her hometown, Barbacena.
What was taken into account by the Vatican in the case of the young woman was her martyrdom. The student had moved to the neighboring city of Juiz de Fora (MG) to study and take the entrance exam. There, she was murdered with 15 stab wounds by a man who was in her house to install a wardrobe tried to rape her.
The suffering of the student, raised in a strongly Catholic family, was what the Vatican took into account when making her blessed, according to information from the Archdiocese of Mariana, to which Barbacena belongs.
She also helped the poorest with the Vincentians, as members of associations linked to São Vicente de Paulo are known. It is the fourth time that religious have been beatified in Minas (see list below). The student’s case is the first in which there was no evidence of a miracle.
Father Geraldo Guilherme da Silva, a specialist in canon law for the archdiocese of Belo Horizonte, states that the current rules for beatifications and canonizations were reordered in the Apostolic Constitution of January 25, 1983, during the pontificate of John Paul II.
According to the expert, only in cases of proven martyrdom and faith “demonstrated and lived” can there be a waiver of performing a miracle for beatifications. “The fact that a person offers his own life because of the faith shown does not require proof of a miracle”, he explains.
Isabel Cristina can become a saint, but for that there is a need to prove a miracle, according to the Archdiocese of Mariana.
Minas Gerais has three other blesseds, born or working in the state, and who had miracles recognized by the Vatican: Father Eustáquio, Nhá Chica and Father Victor.
Born in Holland, Father Eustace, as accepted by the leadership of the Catholic Church, healed a priest who had cancer. Nhá Chica, from São João del-Rei, healed a woman with a serious heart disease. Father Victor, from Campanha, is credited with interceding a miracle for the pregnancy of another woman whose medical diagnosis stated that she would never be able to bear children.
The board that determines beatifications and canonizations in the Vatican is made up of theologians, doctors and other members of the church’s leadership who analyze reports and documents.
Other Blesseds of Minas Gerais
A state with a strong tradition in Catholicism, Minas Gerais now has four blessed and two other religious under analysis to also reach this position in the church:
Father Eustáquio – Humberto van Lieshout
- Born: 03/11/1890 – Aarle Rixtel – Netherlands
- Death: 08/30/1943 – Belo Horizonte – MG
- Date of beatification: 03/15/2006
- Reason: cure of cancer in a religious
Father Victor – Francisco de Paula Victor
- Birth: 04/12/1827 – Campaign (MG)
- Death: 09/23/1905 – Três Pontas (MG)
- Date of beatification: 11/14/2015
- Reason: pregnancy of a woman who, according to doctors, was unable to bear children
Nhá Chica – Francisca de Paula de Jesus
- Born: 1808 – São João del-Rei (MG)
- Death: 06/14/1895 – Baependi (MG)
- Beatification date: 5/4/2013
- Why: Cures Congenital Heart Disease in a Woman
Religious of Minas with ongoing process for beatification
Father Libério – Libério Rodrigues Moreira
- Born: 06/30/1884 – Lagoa Santa (MG)
- Death: 12/21/1980 – Divinópolis (MG)
- Reason: under Vatican secrecy
Sister Benigna – Maria da Conceição Santos
- Born: 08/16/1907 – Diamantina (MG)
- Death: 10/16/1981 – Belo Horizonte (MG)
- Reason: under Vatican secrecy
