...recovery, but considers it unofficial and preliminary at this point.
Lacking a miracle, Catherine Drexel's cause will remain on these shelves, perhaps for decades, one step away from sainthood.
This has happened to many other candidates, and Sarno is philosophical about it.
We can't force God's hand. We can only pray, knowing that he will respond, but it may very well not be the way we want it to be.
The Church has been turning people into saints for almost 2,000 years.
Our first volume goes from the very date of this congregation, from the year 1588.
The Congregation for the Causes of Saints is a relative newcomer, only 402 years old.
It was designed to make sure the people being elevated to sainthood really deserved it.
But Newsweek's Ken Woodward, who has just finished a book on making saints, criticizes the congregation for being a little one-sided.
When I read the documents that they put forward, I never read anything about sins.
It's been airbrushed out of their lives.
And it seems to me saints would be far more relevant to people if we knew that they were, as they were, just like us.
They were tempted by sin, they fell, they did wrong things.
You elevate them into a statue or a stained-glass window and suddenly they're not one of us.
Father Paul Molinari agrees that it is wrong to idealize a candidate for sainthood.
As head postulator for the Jesuit Order, his job is to argue the candidate's case before the congregation, much like a trial lawyer.
It's a very powerful position, and he says he never presents a case without including the person's positive and negative qualities.
None of us is born a saint, and I'm glad for the question because, you know, too often people think that saints are living somewhere up there,
and they almost have wings that no human beings have.
They were still human beings.
They were still human beings like we are. We're on temperament, we're on character, we're on failures at times.
Those flaws or failures don't necessarily destroy a candidacy then.
Absolutely not.
Both Pierre Toussaint and Catherine Drexel must still overcome major obstacles on their way to sainthood.
It's especially difficult to prove Toussaint's holiness because there are no living witnesses to his good deeds.
Beyond that, both candidates must still wait for the required miracle, and they could wait forever.
But even if Toussaint and Drexel are never officially recognized as saints by the church, they've already become role models for the faithful.
The man was born in the 18th century, lived into the 19th century.
How can somebody from so far back in a now generation be an example to people?
I can tell you there are a lot of black kids in New York City who would say, one of us.
Even if they're not Catholic, they would say, one of us.
I know that God is in charge, but I just think that she sounds like a friend that would put in a good word for you when you're desperate.
The church teaches that when you become a saint, you are an example to man and a friend of God.
It is a powerful and comforting message because it inspires ordinary people to strive for the extraordinary
and gives them another connection between the earthly and the divine.
Thoughts of this Christmas season. Hugh, recapitulate, would you for me what the actual steps are?
Oh, in order to become a saint, you have to have a proven reputation for holiness among ordinary parishioners
or a life of heroic virtue. You have to have two miracles ascribed to you unless you're a martyr.
If you're a martyr, one miracle is enough. Then it takes a lot of time.
They have to decide that canonization is justified.
How many saints are there?
Thousands really, because prior to the establishment of that congregation for the causes of saints, any local bishop might canonize.
But since 1588, there's only been about 300.
A lot of people think that Mother Teresa might one day be a candidate.
A good candidate, yes, but not necessarily a shoe in. It takes time.
Well, we're not going to talk about saints, but we're going to talk about people who seem to come close.
I have rarely seen a piece, none of us have, that has moved us as much as the one you're about to see.
And if you don't believe there's good in the world, then you watch this.
Hundreds of 2020 viewers have adopted Romanian children seen in the reports by Tom Jarrow.
The greatest gift of all, right after this.
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Romanian Orphan, adopted by America.
We went over not knowing if we were going to come back with children or not.
And this is just a dream come true.
The greatest gift of all.
When 2020 continues.
Watch out for undercover this January.
Undercover coming this January.
Jack, what are you wearing?
It's my mistletoe hat, watch.
I love the holidays.
Happy holidays from all of us at Going Places.
We'll see you two later. Will you be alright without us?
Have fun. We'll be just fine.
Alright, bye bye.
They've gone. Let's go.
Okay.
Next time you find yourself with some free time, come to Yakima's best kept secret.
The recreation center at the RV park, 1610 North 1st Street.
They'll be home soon. We better get going.
Well, I hope you two were okay without us.
More than 300 people party in our community tonight.
All to spread one message. Keeps chemical free.
I'm Danne Cowley. We'll have the latest on that story tonight at 11 on NightCast.
Plus, we'll also have the latest report about a fire that robbed the Yakima family of their home just before the holidays.
Freezing temperatures may soon rob some soft fruit growers of their precious fruit crop.
Meteorologist Mark Lee will let us know if the plunging mercury will remain through the holiday, and rapid rallies against the Sun Kings.
Happy Holidays from Cap 35 Productions.
On this week before Christmas, when day after day we see reports of crime and misery, the possibility of war, and so much despair,
the piece we are about to show you speaks for the kindness and charity that is in the hearts of millions of people.
Three times this past year, Tom Jarrow showed the world scenes of unspeakable misery.
Thousands of Romanian children were housed in hideous asylums.
But now some of these very same children seen in Tom's reports have been adopted by our viewers.
It is a reaction unprecedented in the history of this program. Just watch.
In airports across the country, American couples are arriving home with newly adopted children from Romania.
We went over not knowing if we were going to come back with children or not. And this is just a dream come true.
In Miami, even the pilot volunteered to help when five orphans arrived on the same flight.
For many, it's the end of anxious weeks, even months of frustrating red tape and paperwork.
But the payoff is a child.
A single mother in Philadelphia, a childless couple in Louisiana, and a family in Texas who had room for one more found their answer in Romania.
We thought it was worth it to do whatever we had to do to go over there and get a baby from Romania, a baby that needed a family.
And we found Hannah.
We're not doing anything noble because we've always wanted children, but they need homes and anybody that can go over and get these kids out should go ahead and do it.
It's hard, but it's worth it.
So far, almost 400 American couples have found a happy ending to the story 2020 broadcast last April. Our report on nobody's children began in the overcrowded orphanages in Bucharest.
Our first report featured Carol and Joe Stevens, a Detroit couple who set out to adopt just days after the bloody revolution in Romania last December.
It makes me so happy to know that somehow we have inspired other couples to do this.
A lot of people have told us that we have paved the way for them to do the same thing and their feeling was that if the Stevens family could do it, then we can do it.
Our first broadcast ended with Carol Stevens homecoming with eight month old Susan.
You've gone through heaven and hell.
Would you do it over again? Absolutely.
We may go back and do it again.
I don't believe it.
She's out there. Yeah, just here.
Last month, they did.
2020 was there on December 5th when Carol and Joe arrived home with 14 month old Joey.
Look at your brother.
You want to give me him?
Joey.
Joey.
Baby.
In one year we got two big Christmas presents, one early in the year and one in December here.
So I think it will make 1990 a pretty special year for us.
Where's the baby?
Best Christmas I think we've ever had.
In our first report, we also followed a California couple to Romania.
Toby and Alona Scott had gone to finalize the adoption of their daughter Jessica.
At age four, she had spent her entire life in orphanage number one in Bucharest.
In the aftermath of the revolution, the Scotts arrived to take their daughter home.
Mama.
I just wanted to grab her, take her, get on a plane, go home.
My whole dream was let's get her home.
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way.
Home for Jessica is Camarillo, California.
At age five, this will be her first Christmas.
She is a lot of fun.
She just sort of sings and dances spontaneously.
Okay, here we go.
Right there.
Everything is new for her.
She didn't know what a Christmas tree was.
She didn't know two weeks ago who Santa Claus was.
Uh-huh.
And I want flippin' beauty books.
You do?
Today, Jessica hardly resembles the little girl we met in Bucharest, but her story proved to be a powerful catalyst for 2020 viewers.
In the days following our initial broadcast, the mail began flooding into our offices, more than 30,000 letters so far.
Laurel and Bob Bauman were one of the hundreds of couples who set out to adopt after seeing our program.
So they are Romanian attorneys, aren't they?
The arrangements took weeks of exhausting 3 a.m. phone calls to Bucharest, but the Baumans left Salt Lake City for Romania this summer.
And you're going to need to sign your passport.
In Springfield, Massachusetts, David and Donna DeRoche quickly put together the necessary paperwork required by the Romanian government to adopt.
I just feel that we're going to succeed eventually.
You know, it may take a month, it may take two months.
I feel pretty confident that we will end up with a baby.
In September, the DeRoches were anxiously awaiting the arrival of their son, hand-carried from Bucharest by the taxi driver who had helped them to adopt.
This is your son, Michael.
For three months we've waited for this.
I didn't believe it until I saw him walk through that door.
In Salt Lake City, Laurel Bauman arrived home with her little girl, Sarah Ann.
The Baumans and DeRoches are just two of the couples who have written to 20-20 to share the joy of their new family.
Kathy Walter of Fairfax, Virginia writes,
We are forever in your debt. Thank you for our miracle children.
Barry Tenenholtz of Dallas, Texas.
People have always said to us how fortunate Millie is that she is with our family.
However, we are the ones that feel so fortunate to have Millie, who makes every day so special.
Letter after letter, the story is the same.
Couples desperate for children, finding children in desperate need of a family.
For Sharon Ross, Romania offered hope after four miscarriages.
Now she and husband John are the proud parents of Ariel, age two, Robert, 18 months, and Jonathan, 8 months.
For children who once faced a life of institutional care, it's been a year of change.
Home movies captured two-year-old Kevin Van de Stouw's first haircut.
His first Christmas. His first family portrait.
It's enough to make a kid want to rock and roll.
All right.
Most of the letters describe the remarkable transformation these children have undergone.
Luca was 13 months old and weighed just 11 pounds.
Joanna Nugabow writes, It is so rewarding to watch these children come to life.
This little boy was covered with mosquito bites and burning up with fever when the
Whitcrafts from New Freedom, Pennsylvania found him. Worse, he had been classified
retarded and thus considered unadoptable.
This is Ty Matthew Whitcraft today.
The Whitcrafts write, My husband and I thank you for the best Christmas present we could ever give each other.
This October, we broadcast our third report on Romania, The Shame of a Nation.
And it, 2020 discovered thousands of children hidden in medieval warehouses, starving to death.
Dazed toddlers in straight jackets, children kept in cages.
Why are you putting us out?
Why?
Once again, the response from viewers has been phenomenal.
Val Saint and his family watched our broadcast in Seattle.
Born in Romania, Val was touched for a special reason.
I was an orphan myself. If my grandparents wouldn't take me to race me, perhaps I would end up sinceress.
That weekend, the Saint family decided to sell their $350,000 dream home.
The proceeds will be used to build a dormitory in Bucharest for those children who may never be adopted.
It's going to be a big change, but I think it's worth it because the kids there don't have anything.
In Atlanta, it was the footage of four-year-old Ferentie, a child who was little more than a living skeleton in our October report, that propelled Anna Octaviano into action.
If you look past the cerebral palsy, the malnutrition, he was just the most beautiful little boy I'd ever seen.
I want to go there and bring him home with me.
Last month, Anna headed for Romania, armed with two truckloads of donated supplies and toys.
She left her husband and three sons behind as she set out to rescue the little boy she had seen on 2020.
I'll be back, honey.
I'll be back, honey.
Anna found Ferentie still clinging to life in the institution at Sagatiu Mamartie.
I sang to him all the time. He loved to be sung to.
I gave him a bath and I just rocked him and I loved him.
You give a handicapped child just a little bit and they give you back ten times more.
Ferentie is one of 14 children featured in our 2020 report on Romania's so-called unsalvageable children, who are now being adopted by American couples.
Twelve-year-old Elena will soon be living in California.
She had such a powerful response to seeing Elena that we had to do something about it.
We had to see if we could adopt this girl.
There's a doctor that has offered to donate the services to work on Elena's leg.
We had to fight for her because she couldn't fight for herself.
You shouldn't think you're adopting a problem. You're adopting a child.
In New Jersey, plastic surgeon Richard Bartlett and his wife Dorothy adopted eight-month-old Robert, a child born with a cleft lip and palate.
We were told that people would go to the orphanage and look at him and draw back or shudder. They weren't interested in him. He wasn't adoptable.
This is Robert Bartlett today after one operation.
One child who touched many of your hearts was four-year-old Vasili, a little boy with a club foot.
On Monday, he was adopted by a Toronto couple.
Ole, ole, ole, ole.
Our October broadcast ended with a young blind girl institutionalized all of her life, singing the Romanian song of liberation.
She had no hope. Those kids are doomed unless people come and take them out.
Four days after our broadcast, John Upton was in Romania.
It took six weeks, but when Upton returned to San Diego, he had 15-year-old Anna with him.
When she walked out of that institution, she had a smile on her face from ear to ear.
You'll find a spoon next to it.
Anna now attends the San Diego Service Center for the Blind, learning basic skills.
The transformation has been stunning. She's singing a new song every day. She must have songs locked in the back of her mind.
And it's exciting to see her come out.
Happy birthday, I'm gonna be Christmas and a happy new year.
People have been contacting me saying, how do I do it?
Say hi, Jane.
Hi, Jane. Hi, hi.
It's exciting because that orphanage is being emptied out one child at a time.
Happy New Year!
Oh, ho, ho, ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas to all!
Have a self-admiring little Christmas.
This is your baby sister, Jason.
Oh, look at that.
Be nice.
Oh, she's cute.
Michelle, this is my mom.
Oh, you're so cute.
From now on, troubles will be out of sight.
Happy, happy, oh, happy, happy.
Have yourself a merry little Christmas.
America.
Make the U.S. happy.
Stephen James, the Christmas community welcomes you at three.
Now all our troubles will be miles away.
Here we are, having olden days, happy golden days of yours.
Faithful friends who are dear to us, gather near to us once more.
Merry Christmas, everybody.
We're going to have food these years.
Through the years, we all will be together.
If the fates allow.
Happy holidays from the shortest to everyone.
Sing a shining star upon the highest bough.
And have yourself.
Merry Christmas.
A merry little Christmas.
No.
Merry Christmas, my dear Jessica.
Merry Christmas to you.
I love you.
I love you.
We'll be back in a moment.
Forgive me, Tom Jarrow will join us.
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Saturday, ABC Sports presents an early holiday basketball of good cheer and rowdy friends.
It begins with college basketball's top team taking aim at the Duel in the Desert.
First, Alonzo Mourning leads Georgetown against Ohio State,
and later the running Rebels from UNLV take on Florida State.
Plus, regional coverage of LSU at Illinois.
And that night...
Get ready for some football!
It's a special Saturday party as the Washington Redskins take on the Indianapolis Colts.
It's all Saturday on ABC Sports.
Are you able to talk now?
Yeah, I think I've recovered.
Tom, how many of the children have been adopted?
How many are left, and are those asylums now closing up?
Well, roughly American adoptions, total number about a thousand children,
either have been adopted or in the adoption process.
There's still tens of thousands.
The problem is not solved by any means.
The solutions are still there.
There's work going on at them, but basically not that much has changed with many of the institutions.
Asylums still exist.
The compassion of those people, those adopting parents, really astounds me.
There really is somebody for everybody if we can just get them together.
And we always hear all the bad stories that television delivers.
I mean, every once in a while you feel awfully happy to be part of something that can make some difference.
And you did, Mr. Jones.
We have focused on the adoptions.
We have to remember that there's a broad spectrum of Americans,
volunteering their time, the Peace Corps is moving in on this.
Ordinary people are volunteering their time and their money and their effort beyond adopting.
It's a real start.
Great, great, Tom. Thank you.
Well, now to Nightline, where you've been sitting in all week for Ted Koppel, but tonight is going to be...
And I've enjoyed it all week, but speaking of sitting, I've had a little back problem, nothing serious,
but my colleague and pal Sam Donaldson will be there tonight, and the subject is, is our military ready for war?
We will be watching that.
Well, that is 2020 for tonight. We thank you for being with us.
And on behalf of everyone here at 2020, to all our friends, happy holidays and our prayers,
especially with our men and women in the service, especially in the Middle East.
Especially there, but to you and your family and everybody you care about wherever they are,
we hope you have a really good holiday.
I'm kind of a pressure player, and I'm not finished with my Christmas shopping.
Ah, you're not.
That's par for the course.
We'll be back next week to wish you a happy new year at that time.
I'm Barbara Walters.
And I'm Hugh Dowell.
And have a great holiday. Good night.