The Roman Catholic Church asked court permission to open a grave in an old church cemetery to make sure it holds the remains of Pierre Toussaint, a onetime slave from Haiti who could become the first black American saint. ``We want to be certain that what's down there is not sticks and stones and someone else's bones,'' said Monsignor Robert O'Connell, who is directing the campaign to canonize Toussaint. On Thursday, the archdiocese of New York sought the order from state Supreme Court. Judge Phyllis Gangel-Jacob scheduled a hearing for Aug. 28 and pronounced the matter ``utterly fascinating. ... This is much more interesting than Trump.'' Although the Health Department routinely issues permits to unearth buried coffins _ mostly so they can be moved from one cemetery to another _ anyone who wants to actually open a coffin must obtain a court order. Those present when the coffin is opened, including pathologists, church officials and gravediggers, ``must take an oath to testify truthfully to what they saw,'' O'Connell said. Church officials do not expect to find any supernatural evidence of Toussaint's sainthood, such as an unusually well-preserved corpse, he said. Toussaint apparently was buried 137 years ago in the cemetery of Old St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan's Little Italy. The grave bears several markers, but O'Connell said that ``if he is declared a saint, and there is a ceremony honoring him, we must be sure.'' He said there was another reason for positive identification: If Toussaint becomes a saint, the Vatican may distribute some of his bones or personal items to ``places where his faith was nourished,'' such as Haiti, or to prominent places of worship such as St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue. Toussaint was born a slave in Haiti in 1766, and moved to New York with his owner's family in 1787. He became one of the city's leading hairdressers, and was allowed to keep some of his income. When Toussaint's owner died, leaving his wife and child impoverished, Toussaint secretly supported them for about 20 years. The widow freed Toussaint shortly before her death in 1807. Toussaint gave lavishly to several charities, including an orphanage and the city's first school for black children, and entered quarantined sections of the city each August to help yellow fever victims. But he took no stand on slavery, and seems generally to have avoided controversy; according to a pamphlet released by the archdiocese: ``The famous phrase, `Only my hairdresser knows for sure,' could well have had its origin in Pierre's discretion.'' When Toussaint died in 1853, the New York Post said he was ``spoken of by all who know him as a man of the warmest and most active benevolence.'' O'Connell said the case for Toussaint's sainthood is buttressed by one reported miracle: the recovery of a young Haitian with cancer who refused medical care and relied solely on prayers to Toussaint. Even if Toussaint is deemed worthy of sainthood, canonization could be years away. Cardinal John O'Connor has said he hopes Toussaint might be near sainthood by the time Pope John Paul II visits Haiti in 1992, but O'Connell said he was told by Vatican officials that no timetable could be set.
