The pope has approved the first of two miracles necessary to make Mother Teresa an official Roman Catholic "saint." The miracle involved a young Indian woman who had a stomach tumor. She recovered after an image of Mother Teresa was placed on her stomach along with the administration of appropriate medicines. The pope accepted the testimony of one group of doctors that the recovery was without medical explanation and ignored other doctors who disputed the claim.

Pope John Paul II waived the normal 5-year waiting period to begin the sainthood process putting Teresa on a fast track just one year after she died in 1997. In his 24 years as pope he has declared more than 460 dead people to be eligible for this special status. Roman Catholicism teaches that once a minimum of two miracles can be attributed to the "intercession" of a deceased, that is sufficient proof that Catholics can pray to that "saint" for answers to their petitions.

The Roman Catholic doctrine of saints departs from the teachings of the Bible and introduces a pantheon of god-like beings who have special influence with God the Father and Jesus Christ. Greatest of these is the Virgin Mary goddess, who is claimed to be the mother of Jesus, born sinless and taken bodily to heaven when she died. Supposedly she sits as Queen of Heaven along with Jesus, the King and now has the divine ability to hear millions of prayers all at once and pass them on with her own powerful influence to be answered by Jesus.

Along with her is a huge host of others who have died and been "canonized," or designated by the pope as official "saints." To gain "sainthood," it is necessary to prove that someone prayed to that person and got an answer in the form of a miracle such as the one that is attributed to "Mother" Teresa. Nowhere does Scripture indicate that the dead can hear us, much less intercede for us. Only one advocate is mentioned, and that is "Jesus Christ the righteous." See 1 John 2:1.

In his book, Understanding Roman Catholicism, author Rick Jones asks this "nagging question": "Why would the Catholic Church rather have members pray to dead men than to the living, all-powerful, prayer-answering God? Keep in mind that, if these traditions of man are not true, then all your prayers to 'saints' are but worthless chatter."

Thomas Heinze points out in his book, Answers To My Catholic Friends: "Remember, only God can be in all places at once to hear the thousands of prayers coming from all around the world at the same time." He asks, "Can you think of a good reason not to pray to Him in the first place?"