south

Updated: Oct 15, 2019 10:55 IST

Thiruvananthapuram: A day after Pope Francis declared Kerala-born nun Mariam Thresia a saint, the Indian Medical Association (IMA)’s Kerala unit secretary Dr N Sulphi on Monday questioned the miracle attributed to her.

“We are not against any belief and we respect all. I do pray before I enter an operation theatre. But what we oppose is the stamp of approval for a miracle. If somebody says prayers fully cured one, it is difficult to comprehend for the medical community,” he said. Earlier, he wrote a post on Facebook urging the Christian community heads to base their decision on some other findings not on miracles.

The miracle attributed to Mariam Thresia is that “she saved the life of a baby born prematurely in Amala Hospital in Thrissur in 2009.”

The baby, now a boy, Christopher Jolly, was also present in the Vatican to witness the canonisation event on Sunday.

Thresia’s congregation officials said his parents took the baby to her tomb for several days and prayed. Later, one of the doctors who treated the baby, Dr Sreenivasan, approved the miracle saying “divine intervention of the Holy Mother saved the baby”.

Syro-Malabar church spokesman Verghese Vallikkatt said miracle plays an important role in elevating a saint. “It is nothing new. All saints were elevated like this. We do not want to get into a controversy when the whole community is in a festive mood.”