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A couple in Phoenix, Arizona, are crediting the survival and recovery of their son following an accidental drowning in part to the intercession of the late Cardinal George Pell, the Archbishop of Sydney said last week.
Speaking on March 26 at an event marking the Australian launch of Cardinal Pell’s biography, Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney told the story of Vincent Robinson, who drowned in his family’s hot tub on March 2.
Vincent was transported to the hospital with a barely detectable pulse and had “stopped breathing for 52 minutes,” said Archbishop Fisher.
His parents, Caitlin and Wesley Robinson, had previously met Pell when the cardinal had visited Phoenix. Cardinal Pell, the archbishop emeritus of Sydney and prefect emeritus of the Secretariat for the Economy of the Holy See and the Vatican City State, died unexpectedly on January 10, 2023.
During their son’s time in the hospital, “his parents prayed for the intercession of Cardinal Pell,” said Fisher.
Despite the initial grim outlook, Vincent survived – with no major deficits.
“The boy survived and came off life support free of any damage to brain or lungs or heart. He’s fine now and his doctors are calling it a miracle,” said Archbishop Fisher.
Vincent’s uncle, Fr. Dan Connealy, contacted Fr. Joseph Hamilton, Cardinal Pell’s former secretary, to request prayers during his time in the hospital.
Speaking to the publication The Catholic Weekly, Caitlin and Wesley recounted their son’s ordeal – and stunning recovery.
Saintly assistance?
Once Vincent was on life support, the Robinsons began storming heaven, praying for the intercession of a multitude of people to save their son.
“From the beginning after the accident we were praying for the intercession of Cardinal Pell, the Ulma family from Poland who are all beatified, and the saints we named our children after, including the children we’ve miscarried,” Caitlin told The Catholic Weekly.
“We prayed to the saints who had a feast day each day, then we added Blessed Conchita, a Mexican mother of nine whose youngest son died of drowning,” she added.
“People began shipping across relics of saints; we had like a whole museum of faith.”
Among the relics that the Robinsons received was a first-class relic of Bl. Michael McGivney, the founder of the Knights of Columbus. The Robinsons also began a novena asking for McGivney's intercession.
On Ash Wednesday, three days after Vincent drowned, the family began to suspect that something had changed with their son’s prognosis.
“We knew they must have seen some progress when they told us going forward we could only have two guests in the room at a time, because during end-of-life situations they won’t limit guests,” Wesley told The Catholic Weekly.
The following day was an even bigger surprise: an MRI showed Vincent had no brain, heart, or lung damage, said Wesley.
“After that it was just slow progress and then things started to snowball in a good way,” he added.
Vincent was discharged from the hospital on March 13, and his parents say he is the same child he was before his drowning.
"God decided it wasn't Vincent's time"
His parents now want to share his story.
“We know a lot of friends have asked for miracles and they haven’t come. For some reason God decided it wasn’t Vincent’s time, and we may never know fully why, but now I’m kind of excited to see what happens next as we’ve already begun to see some of the fruit,” Wesley told The Catholic Weekly.
“We do feel like the miracle happened for a reason, we want to spread our story and do good and strengthen everyone’s faith,” he said.
Pell’s cause for canonization has not been opened, nor has Vincent’s recovery been declared miraculous.
In 2020, Pell was released from prison after his conviction for sexually abusing a child was unanimously overturned by the High Court of Australia. In March 2019, he was found guilty and sentenced to six years in prison.
Following his release, Pell published Prison Journal, a collection of his writings from his 13 months in prison.
