O Pope Francisco promulgated the decree that recognizes the virtues of Odette Vidal Cardoso from Rio de Janeiro, a girl known as Odetinha, who died at the age of eight in 1939, victim of paratyphus. With the promulgation, she, who was already recognized by the Vatican as a “servant of God”, obtains the title of “venerable”, the second level of the process of canonization, to become a saint.
The decree promulgated by Pope Francis was by Italian Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
“The heroic virtues of the Servant of God Odette Vidal Cardoso, faithful laywoman; born on February 18, 1931 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and died there on November 25, 1939”, states an excerpt of the document.
Cardinal Archbishop of the Rio de Janeiro, Dom Orani João Tempesta celebrated the pontifical decision. “The first carioca to become venerable. Born in Madureira, he lived in the region of Laranjeiras and Botafogo and gave great examples. Of piety, prayer, work for the poor, for the needy. And a heart open to the Eucharist, in such a way that he had heaven in his heart. We are grateful for the first carioca to receive this title, on the journey towards beatification and canonization”, says the religious.
The remains of Odetinha are currently in the Church of the Immaculate Conception, in Botafogo, South Zone of Rio de Janeiro, where the Cardinal Archbishop celebrated this Sunday (28) a mass in thanksgiving for the feat.
According to the Archdiocese of Rio de Janeiro, Odetinha was born in Madureira, in the North Zone, the daughter of a Portuguese couple. However, he had never met his father, Augusto Ferreira Cardoso, a fatal victim of tuberculosis.
The mother, Alice Vidal, would marry again, with Francisco Oliveira, also Portuguese, a prosperous businessman in the meat sector, who adopted the girl. Religious, he passed his faith to Odetinha. The first miracle attributed to her would be her own mother’s healing.
After the death of her daughter, Alice would have been run over by a bicycle, which generated a serious injury, which led to the risk of amputation of one of her legs.
At the time, Alice’s godson would have gone to the girl’s grave, at São João Batista Cemetery, in Botafogo, to ask his godmother for a cure and promised to wash the wound with water and rose petals. The next day, after the procedure, the wound would have disappeared.
The second miracle would have been received by a manicurist, who was unable to get pregnant. Also at the tomb, she promised that if she were the mother of a girl, she would be named Odete. Which, according to the process, would have happened nine months later. Both episodes generated waves of visits to his grave in the 1970s.
According to the rules of the Vatican, for the process to advance to the third stage and Odetinha be beatified, it is necessary to prove a miracle. For the fourth stage, the canonization, it will be necessary to confirm a second.
Reference: CNN Brasil
