MANILA: The Vatican has approved the opening of an inquiry into the cause for sainthood of Filipino lay catechist Laureana Franco, known as 'Ka Luring'. Pasig Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara said the Vatican has granted the 'nihil obstat' to the cause for beatification and canonization of Franco to her humble community in Hagonoy, Taguig, according to a report by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) news website on Wednesday night. The protocol was handed to the Pasig prelate by Papal Nuncio to Manila Archbishop Charles Brown, and his secretary, Msgr. Giuseppe Trentadue. It was signed by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery of the Causes of Saints in response to Vergara's request for a nihil obstat in March. At the same time, the Catholic prelate asked the faithful to pray as they journey to the next step of the process. 'May I ask for your unceasing prayers as we do the next steps required by the dicastery,' Vergara said. Franco, who died after battling cancer in 2011, had served as a volunteer catechist beginning in the late 1960s. Franco was known to the late Manila archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, who gave her the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice award on behalf of Pope St. John Paul II in 1990. The nihil obstat, which means 'nothing obstructs' or 'nothing stands in the way,' allows the diocese to proceed with an inquiry into Franco's heroic virtues, one of the first steps that could lead to beatification and eventual sainthood. Vergara opened Franco's cause in February 2024 and urged the laity to provide any 'helpful information" on the matter. Source: Philippines News Agency