Pope attends funeral of cardinal who saw JPII get a miracle

Pope Francis was a friend of Mexican Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán, and visited him at his home on Friday, April 15, before the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum, to say goodbye.

Pope Francis attended the funeral of his personal friend Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragán, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, on April 25, 2022. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, presided at the funeral Mass.

As is traditional, the Pope presided over the rites of final blessing. The remains of the Mexican cardinal, who died April 20 at age 89, will be transferred shortly to Mexico, where they will be buried at the shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Zamora, his hometown.

In a telegram of condolences published April 21, the Pontiff paid tribute to this “devoted prelate,” describing him as a man who “honored him with his friendship since 1980 and who for years and with fidelity gave his life in the service of God and the universal Church.”

Pope Francis visited the cardinal at his home on Friday, April 15, before the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum, to say goodbye.

A witness to a miracle

As bishop of Zacatecas, Lozano had managed to get John Paul II to visit the city during the Polish Pope’s second trip to Mexico in May 1990, reports Mexican Vatican expert Valentina Alazraki.

On that occasion, when the Pope was leaving the airport in Zacatecas, he blessed and hugged a little boy, Herón Badillo, who was suffering from leukemia and who, according to doctors, had no further chance of a cure.

Two months later, the boy was healthy: Bishop Lozano brought photos of the boy to John Paul II and told him that he had performed a miracle. John Paul II, very serious, replied: “I don’t do miracles. I only pray, God does wonderful things.”