Her silence speaks to them: women, others with special needs find hope in Audrey's story

National Catholic Reporter, Dec 17, 2004 by Mathew N. Schmalz

On Aug. 8, approximately 1,500 pilgrims came to Christ the King Catholic Church in Worcester, Mass. While the Mass was ostensibly the central point of a healing service that day, pilgrims had come specifically to see the 20-year-old Audrey Santo. Tour buses were lined up around the block and many of those who arrived late waited patiently outside the church for the public viewing that was to be held when the Mass had ended. Some pilgrims were in wheelchairs, and many carried crucifixes and rosaries with them. Santo herself had entered the church earlier, having been brought by ambulance. At 4 p.m., pilgrims viewed Santo as she lay in her hospital bed, with many crossing themselves or genuflecting as they approached her.

On Aug. 9, 17 years earlier, Santo fell into her family's swimming pool and has remained mute and paralyzed ever since. The "Audrey Event," as the Mass and viewing have come to be called, is now an annual function well publicized by the Apostolate of a Silent Soul, the Catholic lay group that has dedicated itself to proclaiming "Audrey's message of life" to the world.

It was not Santo's accident that brought her to such public attention. Instead, claims about what happened after the accident made her an object of both devotion and suspicion. Over the last decade, it has been claimed that five Eucharistic hosts had bled in proximity to Santo. In addition to claims of bleeding hosts, statues and pictures have appeared to weep tears of oil and blood. Most of the statues are now held in what was once the Santo family's garage, which has been converted into a chapel.

Tales of healings attributed to Audrey's intercession also began to spread along with stories of other supernatural phenomena. Soon pilgrims began to come to the Santo home in Worcester in order to be in Audrey's presence and to see her as the culmination of their visit. For these pilgrims, Audrey Santo is a "victim soul," an immaculate, sinless sufferer who offers up her own pain in restitution for sin.

In 1999, the Catholic bishop of Worcester initiated an investigation into the Santo case. In addition to evaluating reports of the supernatural and the extent of her consciousness, the bishop was particularly concerned with the custom of pilgrims saying "A Prayer to Audrey," which had been distributed on a prayer card after its approval by a French priest. In his report on the case, the bishop prohibited "A Prayer to Audrey" and Audrey herself was removed from public view except for the "Audrey Event" held on the anniversary of her accident. In his concluding remarks, the bishop stated that while he found no evidence of chicanery or abuse, the case would need further study. The study is ongoing.

On a billboard on Worcester's Route 122, a large photograph of Audrey is displayed along with the headline "Celebrate Life." While Audrey herself does not move or speak, those around her understand her to be a silent witness to the sanctity of all human life. The Apostolate of a Silent Soul points to the special significance of Aug. 9, the day of Audrey's accident and the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, as a date with a mysterious association with suffering, death and redemption. In its efforts to promote respect for life and for those who suffer, the Apostolate of a Silent Soul has critiqued the medical establishment, promoted natural family planning and denounced abortion. As the movement surrounding Audrey Santo has grown, it has also embraced many themes within contemporary Marian apocalypticism, including the belief that John Paul II is the pope of the end times. But while the Apostolate of a Silent Soul would resolutely affirm traditional Catholic understandings of family and gender roles, it is an organization dominated by laywomen who claim a special kind of authority for their experiences of silent suffering.

Over the last decade, the Audrey Santo phenomenon has attracted substantial attention, both celebratory and suspicious, from both print and television media. This media attention is certainly not surprising, given the claims made about the miraculous. But what is surprising is how the phenomenon has been almost totally ignored by both liberal and conservative elements within the mainstream of American Catholic scholarly and media discourse.

Of course, the cause has been taken up by foundations and publishing houses that promote the esoterica of Marian apparitions and contemporary Catholic mysticism. But more widely read Catholic periodicals have thus far stayed well clear of the Santo case. Many liberal Catholics would doubtless be troubled by the apparent Catholic traditionalism of the Apostolate of a Silent Soul, especially its stance on issues concerning human sexuality. While the Apostolate's position on these issues might well bring a nod of affirmation from many Catholic conservatives, conservative Catholics as well might see the entire case an as embarrassment in its ostentatious supernaturalism, which seems to confirm the worst stereotypes of Catholicism as crassly superstitious and irrational.