Argentine scientists lead the push to canonize Margarita Lalor Cavanagh, a woman who lived with ALS for 36 years. Pope Francis sent a letter of support for the process in 2024.
The canonization cause of Margarita Lalor Cavanagh, who died in 2005, was formally opened in 2013 before the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires. In 2022 the Association in Defense of the Neurologically Impaired Infant (AEDIN) submitted a formal request that includes testimonies of healings.
Pope Francis, then Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio, encouraged the process from 2005. In a 2024 letter to Father Lisandro Boyle he wrote: “I am glad that you are ‘involved’ in the cause of Margarita Lalor Cavanagh” and sent greetings to her sister Marcela.
Testimonies in the file recount cures of leukemia, tumors and pregnancies after promises made at her tomb in Recoleta. AEDIN, a scientific institution, leads the request together with Father Boyle.
The process continues at the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires under current Archbishop Jorge Ignacio García Cuerva. Margarita, who wrote her memoirs with her left foot, could become the first recognized disabled saint.
