Pope names Father Casey 'blessed'

PEQUANNOCK  Jim Murphy, who grew up as a parishioner of Holy Spirit Parish here, remembers when he was 18 and his father, Michael, made a rather startling prediction: “Someday, your cousin will become a saint.” Murphy’s cousin moved a step closer to his dad’s prediction when on May 4 Pope Francis named Capuchin Father Solanus Casey “blessed” — giving Murphy, now 80, hope that his third cousin will be canonized a saint in his lifetime.

The Archdiocese of Detroit’s beloved friar, Father Casey, had been named “venerable” by St. Pope John Paul II in 2007 and now has satisfied the requirements for beatification as “blessed,” including the attribution of a miracle due to his intercession. Later this year, the Archdiocese of Detroit will host a Mass for the beatification for only the second man born in the U.S. to reach that designation. He is known for a ministry of caring for impoverished and sick people and listening to the concerns of countless people, who sought his counsel. Father Casey’s cause would need the attribution of another miracle for his being declared a saint.

“The entire family is excited about it. We hope that he becomes a saint in our lifetime,” said Jim Murphy, who now lives in Toms River, about his beloved cousin, who died on July 31, 1957 at 86. “The process toward sainthood at the Vatican is slow. We are still waiting. It’s coming closer. We look forward to it. If he is canonized a saint, I definitely will go to Rome,” he said.

Father Casey’s first attributed miracle was a woman who suffered an incurable skin disease. She had stopped at Father Casey’s tomb during a visit to Detroit, and felt strong encouragement to ask for his intercession. She was healed instantly — a miraculous cure that doctors in her home country, in Detroit and in Rome, all verified as having no scientific explanation. Father Casey died in 1957 of skin disease, according to previously published press reports.

“The beatification of Father Solanus Casey is an incomparable grace for the Church in the Archdiocese of Detroit and for the whole community of Southeast Michigan,” Detroit Archbishop Allen Vigneron said in a statement. “He is an inspiration to all us Catholics — and to all — of the power of grace to transform one’s life.”

Murphy’s brothers, who are Holy Spirit parishioners, Robert, 87, and Frank, 83, first heard about Father Casey’s latest designation as “blessed” from a cousin, who lives near Detroit. Then, Jim Murphy looked up more information about it on the Internet.

“Father Solanus loved and related to the poor and the sick. He would meet with people until all hours of the night — people, who would tell him their hard-luck stories. Today, Father Solanus continues to help people, who pray to him. We hear the stories all the time. If a man loses his job and prays to him, he finds a job. I believe those stories,” said Frank Murphy, a parishioner of Holy Spirit, since 1960.

For years, members of the Murphy family, which originally included nine brothers, have supported the Father Solanus Guild in Detroit, where the humble, diminutive clergyman last served and died. The guild keeps Father Casey’s inspiring memory alive by educating the public about his life and work, by providing prayers and support and by working hard on his cause for sainthood, said Jim Murphy, a retired Pequannock police officer.

Over the years, Murphy family members have visited the guild headquarters and have kept tabs on Father Casey’s canonization cause. In July, several of them have attended a Mass at St. John the Baptist Church, New York City, to mark Father Casey’s death.

In 1924, Father Casey returned to Detroit, where he studied for the priesthood. He stayed at St. Bonaventure Seminary for 21 years as doorkeeper. He was ordained without faculties to celebrate Mass because the Capuchins didn’t think he had the mental capacity. But during those years, he packed notebooks with more than 6,000 requests for aid. Hundreds of petitioners reported successes.

Finally, 30 years after Father Casey’s death, Pope John Paul II declared the humble priest “venerable,” the first of three steps in the rigorous process toward sainthood.

Many in the Murphy family here also count many of the prayers on behalf of Father Casey “successes,” including medical miracles. “We talk to Father Solanus everyday. I believe he’s a saint,” Frank Murphy told The Beacon in 2007 when Father Casey was named “venerable.”

Years ago, Robert Murphy, retired from the Post Office, had given a Father Casey medal to the father of a 12-year-old local girl afflicted with leukemia. The day after, the father told Bob Murphy that her daughter didn’t need an operation they all feared she might, James Murphy told The Beacon.

“Coincidence? I don’t know. But we believe,” said Jim Murphy, a widower, whose traces Father Casey, born with the first name “Bernard,” back as the grandson of his grandfather’s sister, Margaret Sheils Murphy.

“This [Father Casey’s being named ‘blessed’] is fabulous news. We hope that Pope Francis waives the requirement of the second miracle to name him a saint more quickly,” Frank Murphy said.