Boy, 9, blessed by Pope Francis during Philadelphia visit dies

[trotsky]

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2015/12/boy_9_blessed_by_pope_francis_during_philadelphia.html

A 9-year-old boy blessed by Pope Francis during his visit to Philadelphia died on Sunday.

Landon Vargas, who was diagnosed with cancer on his 4th birthday and turned 9 on Thanksgiving, died as a result of the disease on Saturday evening.

"We will miss him dearly but are glad to know he is finally healthy and happy sitting next to our Lord," according to the Facebook page set up for the late Montgomery County, Pennsylvania boy.

...

Landon's interaction with Pope Francis came on Sept. 26 during his trip to Independence Mall. The boy, wearing a Batman shirt that day, was carried from the crowd to the pope's vehicle. Pope Francis then kissed Landon on his head.

[Yorktown]

1. It's a miracle!!

but are glad to know he is finally healthy and happy sitting next to our Lord,"

[bvf]

2. I couldn't touch this without getting physically ill. n/t

[valerief]

3. And people wonder why people are stupid enough to support Trump. nt

[mountain grammy]

4. Poor little guy. I can understand why some people need this stuff to cope,

but, to me, it's not helpful. Fairy tales are for children.

[Warren Stupidity]

5. This sad fact will not shake anyone's belief

in miracles.

[Arugula Latte]

6. Poor baby.

His parents probably think that it was all part of God's Grand Plan, never questioning why their Loving Deity would have a plan that involves inflicting suffering on children and then murdering them.

[Binkie The Clown]

7. One big difference between us and "god":

If we had the power to cure cancer, we would.

[FiveGoodMen]

13. Nailed it!

The average human is the moral superior of 'god'.

[Lordquinton]

8. Sad day

[Act_of_Reparation]

9. To be fair...

...whatever else the RCC may be, as an organization they are not overly fond of faith healing. They don't promise panacea for those who receive their blessings, even if those blessings come from the Pope.

Of course, the RCC is always happy to accept the credit after the fact. If this child had gone into spontaneous remission -- as is known to happen with some forms of pediatric cancer -- they'd be bragging about it from the pulpits.

[trotsky]

10. And if the child had been healed...

the event would later be brought up as "proof" of a miracle, to justify making Pope Awesome a saint after he's dead.

One big racket, which is what I object to. And families with real emotions are used in the process.

[Duppers]

11. This is true. nt

[restorefreedom]

12. actually, miracles have to occur after the death

of the beatified. thats the point....if it happens after death, it suggests supernatural intervention of the beatified on behalf of the afflicted. thats one of he reasons the process takes so long, time had to pass after death. if it happened now, i think even the pope himself would not attribute it to his own efforts in any way.

not a defense of so called faith healing, just a clarification of catholic practice