CNA Staff, Oct 25, 2023 / 15:30 pm
The Vatican on Tuesday announced that Pope Francis has authorized the promulgation of a decree recognizing a miracle attributed to an 18th-century Argentinian religious sister, paving the way for her to become the first female Argentine saint.
The Holy See said in a press release that Francis met with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, authorizing the dicastery to issue “the decree regarding the miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed María Antonia of Saint Joseph.”
Vatican News noted that María Antonia, known affectionately as “Mama Antula,” was the founder of the House for Spiritual Exercises in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
“After the expulsion of the Jesuits from the country, she went from town to town in the poor regions of northeastern Argentina promoting retreats in the Ignatian tradition,” Vatican News said. In less than a decade she offered retreats to tens of thousands of people.