Mass. man says Cardinal Newman healed him

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MARSHFIELD, Mass., April 29 (UPI) -- Two Vatican panels say they have found evidence the intercession of Cardinal John Henry Newman cured a Massachusetts man's back problems.

If Pope Benedict XVI recognizes the healing as a miracle, Newman would be on the track for sainthood, the Boston Globe reports.

Jack Sullivan, 70, of Marshfield, told the Globe he first prayed to Newman after watching a television program about him. Newman, who died in 1890 at the age of 91, converted to Catholicism after being ordained as an Anglican priest.

The Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest and author of "My Life With The Saints," said supposed miracles must pass muster with a committee of doctors who determine a cure has no medical cause and with theologians who decide it was indeed related to prayer.

"The bar is higher than what most people would set," Martin said.

One miracle makes Newman a possible candidate for beatification. To become a saint, two miracles are required.