Burkitt's Lymphoma at the center of Catholic investigation

According to the Catholic News Agency, a 31 year old Italian woman was cured of Burkitt's lymphoma after her husband prayed vigorously for Papal intercession in 2005.

In an odd twist, however, the husband reported that Pope John Paul II appeared to him in a dream, telling him he could do nothing for his wife. Instead, he should pray to another priest, whom the husband did not recognize. Some time later, the man came across a picture of Pope Pius XII and recognized him as the priest whom John Paul II had referred to.

The husband "wasted no time bombarding Pius XII with prayers for his wife's healing" and after a single treatment, the woman was pronounced free of cancer. Church authorities are investigating the entire incident as a potential miracle—the kind that could, if cleared by Vatican officials by way of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, help pave the way for Pius XII's sainthood.

The Venerable Pope Pius XII, born Eugenio Pacelli, served as the 258th Roman Pontiff from 1939 until his death in 1958. His pontificate has often been criticized for not doing enough to protest the holocaust during World War II.