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Mother Henriette’s beatification cause discussed
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By Peter Finney Jr.
Clarion Herald
The Sisters of the Holy Family used a Sept. 28 visit by Cardinal Peter Turkson to update him on the status of the cause for beatification of Venerable Henriette Delille, the free woman of color who founded the congregation in New Orleans in 1842.After eating breakfast with 35 sisters at the motherhouse, Cardinal Turkson was briefed for 15 minutes on Mother Henriette’s cause by Sister Alicia Costa, congregational leader; former congregational leader Sister Sylvia Thibodeaux, head of the Delille Commission Office; and Sister Jean Martinez, assistant congregational leader.
Declared ‘venerable’ in 2010
Mother Henriette was declared “venerable” by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 after the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (which is now a “dicastery”) approved historical documentation that she had practiced a life of “heroic virtue.”Documents detailing an alleged miraculous healing through Mother Henriette’s intercession were submitted to the dicastery, also in 2010, but the sisters were told by the sainthood congregation that more information was needed.
In 2016, an investigation into another alleged miracle was launched by the Diocese of Little Rock, which issued a decree of judicial validity on Dec. 7, 2018. The sisters are awaiting the results of that process. If that miracle is approved by the Vatican panel and, ultimately, by the pope, Mother Henriette would be declared “blessed,” the third step in the canonization process.
Another miracle would be needed for Mother Henriette’s canonization.
Cardinal Turkson praised the sisters for continuing the 180-year ministry of their foundress, who educated the enslaved at a time in pre-Civil War New Orleans when that was against the law. Venerable Henriette also opened up a home to care for elderly African-Americans.
“Sisters, I just want to encourage you and assure you of the support of our prayers and make myself as an apostle of your congregation,” Cardinal Turkson told the nuns. “That means, when I get to situations when I talk about this – in the Virgin Islands, in St. Thomas and St. Croix – I can tell people who are still thinking about this way of life that, please God, here is where they can come and serve the Lord.”Cardinal Turkson was the first cardinal to ever visit the Sisters of the Holy Family.
“It’s not every day we get to have a cardinal visit our humble home,” Sister Alicia said. “We are celebrating 180 years of existence this year, and that, in itself, is a miracle.”