Catholic News Service, EWTN, told the story last week of a young Scot who they say ‘inspired a generation’.
Joe Wilson was 17 when he died and his writings have been so inspirational that the Scottish Catholic bishops have now formally approved his cause for canonisation. The formal process is managed by a ‘Postulator’, in this case a lady called Valerie Fleming, and she is currently gathering all the details of his life and legacy to present to the Vatican.
Ms Fleming gave ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language equivalent of EWTN News, information about his humility and kindness as a young man and his longing for holiness: “In his last year at Taylor High School, a Catholic school, the teacher was giving a religion class about the saints and asked the students: ‘What do you think a saint would be like today?’ The whole class turned around and pointed to Joe, and the principal said, ‘There he is.’ That’s absolutely incredible,” she said.
Joe died on December 20th 2011, from Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, a heart condition that particularly affects the young. Among his personal belongings, his father found a diary in which Joe had recorded the details of his spiritual life from the age of 14. This is an extract, he wrote shortly before his death:
“I know the world won’t be perfect, and that’s why I love having faith. Think of all the people who are starving, in wars, in famines; who were excluded, tortured, who weren’t loved in the world. All these people who were unfortunate on earth are, I’m sure, sitting on the highest thrones in heaven. How reassuring is that?”
Read the story on EWTN news here.