The Samoan woman said to have the stigmata, Toaipuapuaga (Toa) Patrick, and her family will be returning to Samoa from Rome at the end of March.
Toa and her family have been in Rome for six months.
Photographs sent to the online news organisation Talamua from Rome show Toa in Rome greeting the Pope.
However, the photograph appears to have taken place during one of the Pope’s walk-abouts.
It is unlikely that she had a private audience with Pope Francis regarding the stigmata.
The archbishop of Apia, Alapati Mataeliga told group meeting in Apia last week that both Toa and her new born baby Agnes are doing well.
“It is hoped that Toa will share her experience in Rome with the church, but that is Toa’s decision,” said the archbishop.
The claim that Toa had experienced the stigmata created friction between Toa’s father who is a Congregation Christian Church church minister and the leaders of the Congregational Christian Church.
The friction worsened when Toa later married and converted to the Catholicism.
There was also disagreement over the presence of Catholic images and statues inside the village church where her father was the minister.
Talamua previously reported that authorities in Rome had declared Toa to be medically fit and sound of mind.
Lance Polu, the publisher of Talamua and said Toa’s time in Rome had been extended after assessments by Vatican officials.
Source
- talamua.com
- niufm.com
- Image: talamua.com