9.45 AM Friday, 29 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:56 06:10 12:26 15:53 18:37 19:52
29 March 2024

New Catholic saints: John Paul II, John XXIII

General view of the crowd gathered for the canonisation mass of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II at the St Peter's square at the Vatican on April 27, 2014. Catholics from around the world gathered in Rome on Sunday for a mass presided by Pope Francis to confer sainthood on John Paul II and John XXIII -- two influential popes who helped shape 20th century history (AFP PHOTO/FILIPPO MONTEFORTE)

Published
By AFP

Pope Francis on Sunday opened a mass attended by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to confer sainthood on two influential pontiffs who helped shape 20th century history -- John Paul II and John XXIII.

Many faithful waved red-and-white flags from John Paul II's homeland Poland and thousands spent the night camped out in and around the Vatican in a Catholic festival atmosphere of singing, dancing and praying.

Thousands also followed the ceremony on giant screens in some of the most picturesque spots of Rome, witnessing an event seen by Vatican experts as a way of uniting conservative and reformist wings of Catholicism.

Francis is co-celebrating the mass with his predecessor Benedict XVI and hundreds of bishops and cardinals -- the first time that two living popes say mass together.

Benedict, who now lives in a former monastery in the Vatican, wore his white papal cassock and mitre and waved as he arrived for a rare public appearance.
It is also the first time that two Catholic Church leaders are being sainted on the same day and many commentators defined the event as "four-pope day".

"We are followers of all four popes who have all been close to the people. This is an historic day but one that you really feel inside," said Luisa Tomolo, a member of an Italian religious movement.

John Paul II helped topple Communism in Eastern Europe and John XXIII is best remembered for launching a process of reform of the Catholic Church in the 1960s.

Former German chancellor Helmut Kohl paid tribute to John Paul II in an editorial for Il Messaggero as the man who helped topple Communism in Eastern Europe.
"He played a decisive role in making the fall of the Berlin Wall possible," Kohl said, adding that the Polish pope had been "a fearless fighter for freedom".

The Vatican's official Osservatore Romano daily ran a headline reading simply "Saints" next to pictures of the two popes and a banner held up by a pilgrim read: "Two pope saints in heaven, two in St Peter's Square".

Francis has reached levels of popularity not seen since the glory days of John Paul II but Vatican experts say he is more comparable to John XXIII -- a down-to-earth unifying figure with the style of a parish priest.

By sainting them together, Francis "is speaking not just to the outside world but to rival camps within the Catholic fold who see John XXIII and John Paul II as their heroes", said US-based Vatican expert John Allen.

The ceremony was relayed in different languages on giant screens around the Eternal City including at Fiumicino airport, the Colosseum and Piazza Navona.
It was also being shown in 3D at hundreds of cinemas across the world from Francis's native Argentina to Lebanon and was live tweeted by the Vatican's vicariate of Rome under the hashtag #2popesaints.

'Santo Subito'

The Vatican said 98 foreign delegations were attending including former Polish president and Solidarity leader Lech Walesa and the kings of Belgium and Spain.

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was also expected -- despite a ban from entering the European Union, which does not apply in the sovereign Vatican state.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk had been scheduled to attend but was forced to cut short his trip after meeting with Pope Francis on Saturday because of the spiralling tensions in his country.

There were 10,000 law enforcement on patrol and the civil protection agency has 3,500 volunteers on hand, including 25 Polish cultural guides and 20 psychiatrists trained in dealing with panic attacks.

The Vatican also deployed a smartphone app called Santo Subito! (Sainthood Now) -- the phrase chanted by the crowd at John Paul II's funeral --  with practical tips for pilgrims and famous quotes from the two pontiffs.

The Vatican's official bureau for pilgrims said 4,000 coaches carrying pilgrims were arriving, along with special trains bringing the faithful from around Europe.

A Polish marathon runner jogged 2,000 kilometres (over 1,200 miles) to Rome in six weeks and a German vintage car collector drove in on a 1958 Polish-made car that once belonged to Karol Wojtyla before he became John Paul II.

The Polish pope (1978-2005) became a media superstar but he drew sharp criticism for his clampdown on leftist movements in the Church and his failure to tackle child sex crimes by priests which turned into a wave of his scandals at the end of his pontificate.

The acceleration of his sainthood cause, which has been the fastest since the 18th century when the current rules were adopted, has also proved controversial.

Francis also sped up John XXIII's sainthood cause, granting it with only one supposed miracle to his name instead of the two usually required for canonisation.