In a statement released Oct. 11, the Diocese of Assisi said that since his beatification one year ago, an estimated 117,000 pilgrims visited the teen’s tomb in the Shrine of the Renunciation at the Church of St. Mary Major in Assisi.
Pope Francis said he intends to declare as a doctor of the church St. Irenaeus of Lyon, the second-century theologian known for his defense of orthodoxy amid the rise of gnostic sects.
Maria Cristina Cella Mocellin continued with the pregnancy and opted for treatment that would not jeopardize the life of her child, Riccardo, who was born in 1994.
Recognition of an alleged miraculous healing would open the door to John Paul’s beatification and decide the date for it, which is likely to be in 2022.
“I’m completely immersed in something way bigger than myself,” actor Shia LaBeouf said in an Instagram post published by Capuchin Friar Hai Ho last week.