ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 19, 1996 TAG: 9612190039
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: VATICAN CITY
The Vatican has taken another step toward declaring a Haitian-born slave the United States' first black saint.
The Vatican body that studies candidates for sainthood issued a decree this week declaring the ``heroic virtues'' of Pierre Toussaint. The decree means ``Toussaint, more than any of us, lived ... in an outstanding Christian way,'' the Rev. Paolo Molinari said Wednesday. Molinari is promoting Toussaint's sainthood.
The process of declaring official sainthood is long and complex. Candidates must first be beatified, which requires a certified miracle. Molinari said several possible miracles attributed to Toussaint's intercession are under study.
Toussaint worked for a well-educated, religious Catholic family in Haiti that brought him to New York when they fled an anti-slavery uprising.
He lived with the family as a domestic servant. After his owner died, the widow became impoverished and Toussaint supported her. She freed him before she died in 1807.
Toussaint then married a woman from Haiti. Until his death in New York City in 1853, he worked with orphans, the poor and the sick, both black and white, Molinari said.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Short : 34 linesby CNB