Court clerk has role in sainthood tribunal
His recovery weighed as possible miracle
PLYMOUTH -- The Plymouth District Court's longtime clerk-magistrate said yesterday that his recovery from a crippling back ailment is the subject of a secret tribunal convened by the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston to gather evidence of the possible sainthood of a deceased cardinal.
John A. Sullivan, who a few years ago was severely hunched over and sometimes could not walk, said he had prayed to the late Cardinal John Henry Newman of Britain to intercede with God on his behalf.
He refused to discuss details of his case yesterday as he returned to the historic courthouse, erect and spry, from an afternoon walk.
The archdiocese, at the instruction of church authorities in Rome, has been gathering evidence to determine whether a miracle occurred in his case, Sullivan said.
Verification of a miracle would significantly advance the cause for sainthood of Newman, a leading churchman, intellectual, and philosopher of the 19th century.
''I'm dying to tell you as much as you're dying to hear," Sullivan said in an interview, ''but the cause is important. Newman as a saint will be important not only for England but worldwide."
Investigation and verification of miracles and sainthood normally take many years. Newman died in 1890, and the investigation of his saintliness was not opened until 1958.
Verification that Sullivan's improvement was a miracle would pave the way to Newman's beatification. Under church law a second miracle would have to be verified before Newman is recognized as a saint.
Due to strict rules of secrecy that govern the investigation of possible miracles, archdiocesan officials have released no information, other than to confirm the existence of the tribunal, which was first disclosed by the English priest who is leading the drive to canonize Newman.
Sullivan said yesterday that he would not willingly have gone public, but that his identity was discerned by a local court reporter who heard that the recipient of the possible miracle was an ordained deacon who had been cured of a debilitating back ailment.
Sullivan, who has worked in the Plymouth County Courthouse for the past 25 years, was ordained in September 2002. He is a deacon of St. Thecla Parish in Pembroke and conducts a prison ministry at Plymouth County House of Correction.
A court officer who knows Sullivan said ''we are all pretty surprised" to learn that the improvement in the clerk-magistrate's condition was being investigated as a possible miracle. But the officer said that until a couple of years ago ''he was all bent over."
''Some days he could not walk at all," the officer said. ''Sometimes things happen."
Sullivan -- a man in his 60s with a constant twinkle in his blue eyes, a ruddy complexion, and a shock of white hair -- said: ''If I could tell my story, people would find it very compelling, remarkable, beautiful. It is something people need today. But we can't have pressures to confirm the alleged miracle. When this thing is over, God will have his way."
He spoke fervently about his faith, his commitment to serve people through his ministry, and his unbounded enthusiasm for Newman.
The cardinal ''wrote clearly, passionately, and his prose was incredibly beautiful," Sullivan said. ''He was probably the most brilliant person who lived in the 19th century. . . . His theology was 100 years ahead of its time."
Sullivan and other enthusiasts consider Newman a strong advocate of openness in the church and in Catholic universities. Sullivan, who lives in Marshfield and is the father of three, is a graduate of Stonehill College and Suffolk University Law School.
Yesterday in his small office, which is decorated with his own drawings of Plymouth Harbor and with a portrait of Jesus by one of his daughters, Sullivan deflected all questions about his praying for Newman's intercession.
But, he said of Newman, ''There is an incredible bond that is very real."
The tribunal in the Boston Archdiocese began its work in late June and is expected to continue until February, when it is expected to report its findings to the Vatican.
Charles A. Radin can be reached at radin@globe.com. 