"It's useful on earth, not for heaven," said Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, the prefect, when asked, "What is the use of proclaiming saints?"

In an interview published May 4 in L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, the cardinal noted how the Second Vatican Council spoke of the "universal vocation of holiness."

"To proclaim saints helps convince us that this vocation really exists, that the Gospel works, that Jesus does not disappoint and that we can trust in his word," Semeraro said in the interview the day after Pope Francis and cardinals resident in Rome held a consistory to approve the canonization of seven men and women.

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A theological commission advising the Congregation for the Causes of Saints has recognised the miraculous recovery of a stillborn baby.

The child's mother and father had prayed to Archbishop Sheen to heal their son, James Engstrom, after he was born in 2010.

Although the baby showed no pulse for an hour after his birth, his heart started beating again and he escaped serious medical problems.

The congregation's cardinals and bishops will now review the case.

If they and Pope Francis approve, Archbishop Sheen could then be beatified.

Archbishop Sheen reached millions of television viewers in the United States with his shows in the 1950s and 1960s.

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