“The Vatican Accepted This Miracle”: California Priest’s Recovery Declared a Miracle by Pope Francis

A Southern California priest’s unexplainable recovery from a serious injury has been declared a miracle, paving the way for the canonization of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. Pope Francis formally approved the miraculous event, marking it as the second attributed to Frassati.

Rev. Juan Manuel Gutierrez, a priest at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Baldwin Park, tore his Achilles tendon while playing basketball. At a news conference on Monday, Gutierrez recalled how emergency room doctors initially misdiagnosed the injury as a pulled muscle.

However, an MRI later revealed a torn Achilles that would require surgery, The Mercury News reported. Facing the daunting recovery, Gutierrez turned to Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, an Italian Catholic journalist who died of polio at age 24 nearly a century ago.

Frassati, known for his devotion to serving the poor and suffering, has long been a figure of inspiration in the Catholic Church. Gutierrez described a transformative moment during his prayers to Frassati. “Along the days of my novena, one day I went to the chapel when nobody was there.

I was praying, and I started to feel a sensation of heat around the area of my injury, and I honestly thought that maybe something was catching on fire underneath the pews,” Gutierrez recounted, according to Patch. The inexplicable warmth was followed by a remarkable change.

“From that day on I just never thought about my injury again,” Gutierrez told The Mercury News. “I stopped wearing braces, I just didn’t feel I needed them.” When he returned for a follow-up appointment, his doctor was stunned. The tear that had been clearly visible on the MRI was gone, and surgery was no longer necessary.

“His doctors could not explain it,” said Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles. “Of course, miracle is a word that gets overused in our culture and it is not well understood.” The Vatican, after careful investigation, concluded that the healing was indeed miraculous and attributed it to Frassati’s intercession.

This approval marks the second miracle required for canonization, officially moving Frassati toward sainthood. “After a long time, the Vatican has finally accepted this as the miracle that will lead to the canonization of Pier Giorgio Frassati,” Gutierrez said.

Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, who was beatified by Pope John Paul II in the 1980s, is set to be canonized in August 2025. His life of faith and service continues to inspire Catholics worldwide, and this miracle solidifies his enduring legacy.