The remains of Father Bill Atkinson were transferred Friday to the chapel at Villanova University. The late Augustinian priest is being considered for sainthood, reports Joe Holden and Will Kenworthy for CBS News Philadelphia.
The Upper Darby native’s remains were moved from a West Conshohocken cemetery to the chapel.
Atkinson’s family, fellow Augustinians and Archbishop Nelson Perez were present.
“If you want to get to know God, get to know God’s friends,” Father Rob Hagan said. “So Father Bill was a great friend of the Lord.”
Atkinson was studying to become a priest in 1965 when a toboggan crash left him a quadriplegic.
He went on to teach thousands of students at Monsignor Bonner High School before his death in 2006.
Three miracles connected to Atkinson are being investigated.
Havertown mom and assistant Bonner principal Anne Marie Dolceamore was fighting for her life battling cancer and prayed to Atkinson in September 2020 to be healed, joined by the entire Monsignor Bonner and Archbishop Prendergast community
In November she received the news that the cancer was nearly gone. She’s been cancer-free for three years.
Read more about the reinternment of Father Bill Atkinson’s remains and his journey toward sainthood at CBS News Philadelphia.
