German Nun Born a Jew to Be Canonized

Pope John Paul II intends to canonize as a saint a German nun who was born a Jew and converted to Catholicism in 1933 and was gassed at Auschwitz in 1942. A Massachusetts family prayed to Sister Theresa Benedicta of the Cross, better known as Edith Stein, 10 years ago when their toddler swallowed a massive dose of Tylenol and was rushed to a Boston hospital comatose, her liver and kidneys about to fail. When their daughter, who was named after the martyred nun, recovered, the parents called it a miracle. Her Jewish doctor called it a miracle. And now the Vatican has declared it a miracle. But the prospect that the Roman Catholic Church would canonize Sister Theresa Benedicta has long provoked the ire of some Jews resentful at what they say was church passivity during the Holocaust.