Pope Francis gave the go-ahead on Friday for John Paul II to be made
saint and granted a rare exception for canonisation at the same time for
John XXIII, who had the same reformist views and personal touch as the
current pontiff.
The announcement marked a historic day at the
Vatican, which also issued an unprecedented text co-written by Francis
and his living predecessor Benedict XVI in which the two popes said
faith was a “common good” and called for dialogue with non-believers.
The
Vatican said Francis gave his widely expected formal approval to a
second miracle attributed to John Paul II (1978-2005) at a meeting with
Cardinal Angelo Amato, head of the Congregation for the Causes of
Saints.
The supposed miracle occurred to a woman in Costa Rica,
the Vatican said, following media reports that she had been cured of a
serious brain condition by praying for the late pope’s intercession on
the same day that he was beatified in 2011.
John Paul II
(1978-2005) was hugely popular among Catholics through his 27-year
papacy, and helped topple Communism although he alienated many with his
conservative views and was blamed for hushing up multiple scandals over
paedophile priests.
At his funeral in 2005, crowds of mourners
cried “Santo Subito!” — which roughly translates as “Sainthood Now!” —
prompting the Vatican to speed up the path to sainthood, which normally
begins five years after the death of the person in question.
“I
think it’s marvellous news that will bring joy to all Christians,” Jesus
Manuel, a Mexican monk, said in St Peter’s Square after learning the
news.
Referring to John Paul II, Calogero, an Italian trainee priest, said: “In the hearts of the faithful he is already a saint.”
“The Church today is only confirming something that was already the case,” he said.
Dania,
a Mexican tourist, said of John Paul: “He went everywhere in the world
and wherever he went he helped people. I think it’s really good he’s
being canonised.”
In the case of John XXIII (1958-1963), Francis
“approved the favourable votes” from the Congregation for the
canonisation even though no second miracle has been found, in a break
with the usual procedure.
The long road to sainthood normally
requires two “confirmed” miracles, the first of which is necessary for
beatification, a hurdle the Polish pope cleared just six months after
his death.
That was the healing of a French nun, Sister Marie
Simon-Pierre, whose recovery from Parkinson’s disease after praying for
the late John Paul II’s intercession apparently had no medical
explanation.
The announcement on John XXIII was greeted with bells
ringing out in a parish church in the village of Sotto Il Monte in
northern Italy where he came from.
A consistory, a meeting of
cardinals, will now be held to determine the exact date for the
canonisations but Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said they would
take place “before the end of the year”.
Nicknamed “The Good
Pope”, John XXIII made his name by calling the historic Second Vatican
Council (1962-1965) which overhauled and modernised the Catholic
Church’s rituals and doctrines.
Francis also promises to be a
reformist pope, planning an overhaul of the Vatican bureaucracy and its
finances and promising a “poor Church for the poor”.
The current
head of the Roman Catholic Church is often compared to John XXIII for
his pastoral attitude, which contrasts with the more austere and
academic style of Benedict XVI.
A religious text issued by the
Vatican on Friday, however, showed that behind the differences in style
there was continuity between Benedict and Francis.
The encyclical
was co-written by the two men — a first in Church history — and
highlights the importance of faith in modern society, as well as
restating the Vatican’s opposition to same-sex marriage.
It also said faith cannot be “imposed by force” and believers should not be “presumptuous”.
Francis
and Benedict, who both live within the walls of the Vatican City and
wear the white papal vestments, met publicly on Friday at a ceremony in
the Vatican for the unveiling of a new statue.
Benedict shocked
the world in February when he became the first pope to resign of his own
free will in 700 years of Church history.
Francis was elected by a
conclave of cardinals to succeed him in March, becoming the first
non-European pope in nearly 1,300 years.
PM NEWS
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