The Catholics have no evidence. Father Pytel’s condition has been known to spontaneously cure itself (Preuss KC, Chapman PD, Ptacin MJ, Keelan MH, Bamrah VS. Clin Cardiol. 1988 Jul;11(7):497-500), he was on medication, he had been surgically treated with an artificial valve–there was nothing spontaneous about it. Was the resolution of his disease unusual–yes, and the unusual happens all the time in medicine. Is it unexplainable given our current knowledge? Yes; that’s why people like me still have jobs. There was no skeptical investigation published; only the “investigation” of the Catholic canonization committee into an intercession supposedly by a well-beloved Sister already on her way to sainthood. The medical professionals on that committee did NOT rule that Pytel’s recovery was impossible; only that it could not be explained with our current scientific knowledge. I will reiterate what was said before: there exists no examples of miracles that have withstood skeptical scrutiny.
Has Father Pytel released his medical records? Which non-religious panel do you refer to, and did they say that his recovery was medically impossible? The only medical panel I find referred to in the investigation was led by Dr. Valentin Fuster, who is undoubtedly an eminently qualified cardiologist–however, they didn’t say that this recovery was impossible and must be a miracle. He said science can’t explain how it happened. HUGE difference. The THEOLOGICAL panel said the healing was a miracle, and if you think they are unbiased you’re nuts.
Pope John Paul II abolished the role of Devil’s Advocate, and it has not been re-established (which is part of the reason why we’ve seen such a rash of beatifications and canonizations within the Catholic Church). On occasion, a skeptic is allowed to testify to the canonization comittee (e.g. Hitchens in re Mother Theresa), but it is not required and such a skeptic no longer has an official role and I have seen no such description of a skeptic taking the role even informally in Faustina’s case. One would think that someone like you, who is so quick to insult people and throw around accusations of people not looking into the facts, would know something so easily discovered and that made such a huge impact at the time. Dr. Fortuin was Father Pytel’s original cardiologist at Johns Hopkins; I have found no role that he played in the canonization proceedings, and if you have evidence of such a role, please present it.
http://debunkingchristianity.blogspot.com/2008/06/stop-me-if-youve-heard-this-one.html
