Controversial nun beatified

By Tracy Wilkinson
Los Angeles Times

PLINIO LEPRI / THE AP A tapestry outside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican shows Sister Anna Katharina Emmerick, one of the five Catholics beatified by Pope John Paul II yesterday.

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Beatification is the last formal step before a person is elevated to sainthood. In addition to Sister Anna Katharina Emmerick, a German nun known for her purported visions of Jesus' crucifixion, the pope beatified the last reigning emperor of Austria, two French priests and an Italian nun.

John Paul has beatified a record 1,338 faithful in his quest to give believers new models of sanctity.

The ailing, pontiff, 84, whose schedule has been greatly curtailed as he marks his 26th year in the papacy this month, struggled to deliver yesterday's homily.

Emmerick shared the "bitter suffering" of Jesus Christ and dedicated her life to "complete, loving devotion of him," the pope said in a ceremony in St. Peter's Square before about 25,000 worshippers and tourists.

The frail, bedridden nun was said to have borne stigmata — bloody wounds on the hands, feet and forehead like those suffered by Christ — and when reveling in visionary ecstasy recounted scenes of Jesus' torturous last hours.

She died in 1824, but not before German poet Clemens Brentano, sitting at her bedside, recorded her accounts. He later published them in a book, "The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ," which became something of a best seller in its day and enjoyed new popularity more recently among traditionalist Catholics, particularly Gibson.

Gibson was said to have drawn on some of Emmerick's gory descriptions, which do not appear in the Bible, to portray Jesus' suffering. Emmerick's visions also included images of devils living among the Jews, inciting them to attack Jesus, and other notions — officially rejected by the Vatican — that have often been used to blame Jews collectively for the crucifixion.

Trying to ease the controversy, the Vatican has said Emmerick's virtuous life was the basis for her beatification, not the visions as recorded in Brentano's book. But some Jewish and Catholic leaders criticized the decision to elevate her status, saying it validates her discredited views.

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which vigorously protested Gibson's film, said it was "deeply distressed" to see Emmerick advance toward sainthood.

"Hatred and anti-Semitism were fomented in her name," the ADL said in a statement. With Emmerick as his "muse," the ADL said, Gibson made a film that "reasserted the anti-Semitism that derives from" the nun's work, including negative portrayals of Jewish clerics and guards.
 
Gibson has denied his movie is anti-Semitic, and such charges did not appear to dent the film's blockbuster success.

Queen Fabiola of Belgium and 700 descendants of the Hapsburg dynasty attended yesterday's ceremony in honor of the beatification of Karl I, another controversial candidate for sainthood.

Praised by the pope as a man of peace, the last Hapsburg monarch, who died penniless in 1922 after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, commanded troops that used poison gas on the battlefield in World War I.

Critics have said the Vatican had no business honoring a monarch whose troops used poison gas. Historians say he sought to limit use of the gas, angering his own military commanders.

A miracle is required for beatification, and the Vatican concluded that in Emmerick's case, the recovery from tuberculosis in 1860 of a nun in Germany was due to her intercession.

For Karl, a healing of varicose veins after a Brazilian nun prayed to the monarch for help met the requirement.

Also beatified yesterday were Maria Ludovica De Angelis, who died in 1962; Joseph-Marie Cassant, who lived from 1878-1903; and Pierre Vigne, who lived in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.