CHRISTCHURCH Fr Paul Duncan is on a mission for a miracle. Fr Duncan, a priest of Christchurch diocese, is suffering from two separate forms of inoperable cancer and has a life expectancy of one to four years. When the Sisters of Compassion at Island Bay wrote to say they were praying that he be cured through their founder, Suzanne Aubert, he leapt into action.

With permission, cards with a special prayer to Mother Aubert were printed to distribute around Christchurch and several other parts of the country.

I need to storm the heavens with prayer for a cure through Suzanne Aubert, if this be Gods will, said Fr Duncan.

He has spent seven years as parish priest in Mairehau, recently relinguishing the responsibility, but is still active. His four years on the West Coast were preceded by many years as a Marist priest in Wellington and Hawkes Bay, and Fr Duncan had close association with the Sisters of Compassion, who are actively pursuing Mother Auberts canonisation.

Her cause has been taken to Rome by the New Zealand bishops and needs a proven miracle.
Coming to New Zealand from France in 1860, Mother Aubert worked in Auckland, Hawkes Bay, Jerusalem on the Whanganui River and in Wellington.

Foundress of New Zealands only home-grown religious order, the Daughters of Our Lady of Compassion, Mother Aubert worked tirelessly with the needy, regardless of creed. When she died in 1926, Wellington came to a standstill for her funeral.

A statement of faith and a prayer for the cure of Fr Duncan have been written.