NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Avvenire, the Italian daily owned by the Catholic bishops, has reported a first miracle attributed to the intercession of Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

      The Avvenire story indicated that Sister Rita Mascarenhas, a missionary nurse working in Purulla, India, was miraculously healed through the intercession of Mother Teresa. The evidence involved in her case is now in the hands of Calcutta's Archbishop D'Souza, to be examined during the process for the beatification of the Albanian- born nun.

      Sister Rita, who is 71, had suffered from a massive abdominal hernia, apparently the after-effect of earlier surgery. After an operation to correct the problem in August 1997, her sutures burst, and doctors were unable to relieve her pain. Finally, on September 7, one of the nuns from her convent went to pray before the remains of Mother Teresa. She touched the corpse of the deceased nun with a cotton ball, which she later used to wipe Sister Rita's wound. That night Sister Rita reported hearing a voice-- which she identified as that of Mother Teresa-- instructing her to turn first on her left side, then on her right, and finally to get out of bed. At the same time her pain disappeared, and a medical examination later showed no remaining signs of her physical ailments.