Girl's recovery key to a nun's canonisation

Young Australian Sophie Delezio has recovered from two horrific road accidents, but does that constitute a miracle?

The 5-year-old Sydneysider's mother, New Zealander Carolyn Martin, has met a Catholic authority to discuss whether the girl's recovery can be deemed a miracle in the eyes of the church.

Ms Martin and her husband, Ron Delezio, believe the Australian founder of the Order of the Sisters of St Joseph, Mary MacKillop, is Sophie's guardian angel.

A photo of the nun, who spent many of her latter years in New Zealand, was at Sophie's bedside during her recovery from her latest accident.

The Josephite nuns are pushing for the canonisation of Mary MacKillop, who is one step away from being Australia's first saint.

The late Pope John Paul bestowed the title of Blessed on her when in Sydney in 1995, but to be declared a saint the Vatican has to be convinced she has performed at least two miracles.

Her first miracle was deemed to occur in the 1950s when a woman recovered after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Sophie recovered from third-degree burns to more than 85 per cent of her body, inflicted when a car ploughed into a childcare centre in 2003.

Two months ago she again recovered from serious injuries after being hit by a car on a pedestrian crossing near her northern Sydney home.

Ms Martin, who regularly prays at the Mary MacKillop Chapel in North Sydney, yesterday met Sister Maria Casey, who has investigated many of the miracle claims for Mary MacKillop.

Sister Maria isn't ruling out a miracle, but questions whether Sophie's recovery can be deemed as one.

"For a miracle, the cure must be such that it cannot be explained by science," she told the Daily Telegraph.

"The crux of Sophie's cure is that she is alive ... science may not be able to explain why Sophie is alive.

"We cannot take from the doctors what they did from Sophie. They did an enormous amount."

An advisory group will make an informal assessment on Sophie's case before a decision is made whether to submit it to a church tribunal in Rome.

Mary MacKillop has several schools named after her in Australia and New Zealand. There are 1000 Josephite sisters in both countries who perform educational and social work, particularly in prisons and with refugees.

- NZPA