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Post by beth on Apr 26, 2014 23:39:48 GMT -5
VATICAN CITY— Pope Francis on Sunday will preside over a pomp-filled ceremony to declare Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII saints—an event that commemorates the legacies of two of the Catholic Church's most popular popes, both instrumental in shaping the current pontiff's groundbreaking reign.
The rite in St. Peter's Square on Sunday, canonizing two of the Catholic Church's most popular popes, is likely to be a history-making event, given the strong possibility that Pope Benedict XVI, who resigned last year, will also be in attendance. That would mark the first time in the church's 2,000-year history that two popes would honor the memory of two previous ones. (See their lives in pictures and video in an interactive timeline.)
Francis chose to hold a single ceremony to canonize the pair, bringing together two popes who are closely associated with the Second Vatican Council of 1962-65, which led to significant reforms in the church. Pope John XXIII, who reigned from 1958 to 1963, launched Vatican II, as it is commonly known, while John Paul II's nearly 27-year papacy, which lasted from 1978 until his death in 2005, oversaw the implementation of large parts of the reforms.
"To carry out a double canonization is a message to the Church: These two are good people," Pope Francis told reporters on the papal plane back from celebrating the World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro last summer.
More than 40 heads of state are traveling to Rome for the event, and about a million pilgrims are expected on the day, according to estimates from the Vatican and officials in Rome. Around 150 cardinals and about a thousand bishops from around the world will join Pope Francis in the ceremony, which begins at 10 a.m. local time and is expected to last more than an hour. It will be broadcast live world-wide and on large screens in St. Peter's Square and across the city.
"The bigger significance of this event is the Second Vatican Council and its status marking a sort of springtime for the church," said Chad Pecknold, assistant professor of theology at the Catholic University of America in Washington, noting that Pope Francis is making saints those most closely associated with it.
Vatican II was a watershed for the Catholic Church, introducing vernacular to replace Latin at masses and calling for greater participation of laity and women in the life of the church. It encouraged ecumenism, or dialogue with other religions and other Christian denominations, and scrapped the concept of Jewish guilt for the crucifixion of Christ, which soured Christian-Jewish relations for centuries.
The Second Vatican Council also advocated more decentralization of power in the church, a concept that Pope Francis has strongly backed. For instance, Last year he ordered a survey of parishes around the world to hear clerics' and parishioners' greatest concerns regarding issues such as birth control and same-sex marriage in preparation for a major meeting of bishops later this year on the family. He has also called for a greater role for women in the church and recently appointed a woman as the head of a pontifical institute.
Pope Francis also made a statement in favor of ecumenism last December, when he declared one of the first Jesuits, Pierre Favre, also called Peter Faber, a saint. The Jesuit is known for his contacts with Protestants during the Reformation, flouting the official church line considering them heretics.
The importance of Vatican II is also evident in the expected beatification later this year of Pope Paul VI, who presided over the Council's closure in 1965 and reigned until 1978.
"The renewal brought by Vatican II opened the way," Pope Francis said Friday in a video message for residents of the small northern Italian town where Pope John XXIII was born. "There is a special joy in the fact that the canonization of John XXIII happens together with that of John Paul II, who advanced that renewal during his long papacy."
The immense popularity and personal style of Pope Francis also recalls characteristics of Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII. The current pontiff's genial manner and common-man touch have won him fans among many Catholics and non-Catholics alike, and he has vocally called for the church to return to its pastoral roots.
Similarly, Pope John XXIII, a peasant's son from northern Italy who is commonly referred to as the "Good Pope" thanks to his jovial, grandfatherly ways, broke tradition by venturing outside the Vatican's walls to visit parishes across Rome and be closer to the faithful.
"There are so many similarities between popes John XXIII and Francis," said Rev. Giovangiuseppe Califano, the postulator, or promoter, of the cause for John XXIII's sainthood. "The closeness to common people, the shaking of hands, the kissing of babies…it's an evangelical gift."
John Paul II, the globe-trotting, Polish-born pontiff renowned for his charisma, is credited with contributing to the fall of communism. He visited more than 130 countries, reaching out to millions of Catholics. He was particularly close to young people, establishing the highly-successful world youth days.
The Argentinean-born Pope Francis, the first pontiff to hail from the Americas, has similarly begun tilting the church away from the U.S. and Europe, emphasizing the fast-growing areas Asia, Latin America and Africa. John Paul II "was a great missionary of the Church," said Pope Francis last year. "He brought the Gospel everywhere."
The Vatican has confirmed that retired Pope Benedict XVI is invited to the ceremony at St. Peter's Basilica. The prospect of two popes potentially attending a canonization of two popes whom they knew personally has drawn world attention, as well as millions of pilgrims to Rome in recent days.
If Benedict attends, "Rome will witness an event that has never happened in the Church's history: two living popes witnessing the canonization of two former popes," said Msgr. Liberio Andreatta, vice president of the Vatican-linked Rome Pilgrimages Organization and among the organizers of the double canonization.
more:
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The rite in St. Peter's Square on Sunday, canonizing two of the Catholic Church's most popular popes, is likely to be a history-making event, given the strong possibility that Pope Benedict XVI, who resigned last year, will also be in attendance. That would mark the first time in the church's 2,000-year history that two popes would honor the memory of two previous ones. (See their lives in pictures and video in an interactive timeline.)
Francis chose to hold a single ceremony to canonize the pair, bringing together two popes who are closely associated with the Second Vatican Council of 1962-65, which led to significant reforms in the church. Pope John XXIII, who reigned from 1958 to 1963, launched Vatican II, as it is commonly known, while John Paul II's nearly 27-year papacy, which lasted from 1978 until his death in 2005, oversaw the implementation of large parts of the reforms.
"To carry out a double canonization is a message to the Church: These two are good people," Pope Francis told reporters on the papal plane back from celebrating the World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro last summer.
More than 40 heads of state are traveling to Rome for the event, and about a million pilgrims are expected on the day, according to estimates from the Vatican and officials in Rome. Around 150 cardinals and about a thousand bishops from around the world will join Pope Francis in the ceremony, which begins at 10 a.m. local time and is expected to last more than an hour. It will be broadcast live world-wide and on large screens in St. Peter's Square and across the city.
"The bigger significance of this event is the Second Vatican Council and its status marking a sort of springtime for the church," said Chad Pecknold, assistant professor of theology at the Catholic University of America in Washington, noting that Pope Francis is making saints those most closely associated with it.
Vatican II was a watershed for the Catholic Church, introducing vernacular to replace Latin at masses and calling for greater participation of laity and women in the life of the church. It encouraged ecumenism, or dialogue with other religions and other Christian denominations, and scrapped the concept of Jewish guilt for the crucifixion of Christ, which soured Christian-Jewish relations for centuries.
The Second Vatican Council also advocated more decentralization of power in the church, a concept that Pope Francis has strongly backed. For instance, Last year he ordered a survey of parishes around the world to hear clerics' and parishioners' greatest concerns regarding issues such as birth control and same-sex marriage in preparation for a major meeting of bishops later this year on the family. He has also called for a greater role for women in the church and recently appointed a woman as the head of a pontifical institute.
Pope Francis also made a statement in favor of ecumenism last December, when he declared one of the first Jesuits, Pierre Favre, also called Peter Faber, a saint. The Jesuit is known for his contacts with Protestants during the Reformation, flouting the official church line considering them heretics.
The importance of Vatican II is also evident in the expected beatification later this year of Pope Paul VI, who presided over the Council's closure in 1965 and reigned until 1978.
"The renewal brought by Vatican II opened the way," Pope Francis said Friday in a video message for residents of the small northern Italian town where Pope John XXIII was born. "There is a special joy in the fact that the canonization of John XXIII happens together with that of John Paul II, who advanced that renewal during his long papacy."
The immense popularity and personal style of Pope Francis also recalls characteristics of Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII. The current pontiff's genial manner and common-man touch have won him fans among many Catholics and non-Catholics alike, and he has vocally called for the church to return to its pastoral roots.
Similarly, Pope John XXIII, a peasant's son from northern Italy who is commonly referred to as the "Good Pope" thanks to his jovial, grandfatherly ways, broke tradition by venturing outside the Vatican's walls to visit parishes across Rome and be closer to the faithful.
"There are so many similarities between popes John XXIII and Francis," said Rev. Giovangiuseppe Califano, the postulator, or promoter, of the cause for John XXIII's sainthood. "The closeness to common people, the shaking of hands, the kissing of babies…it's an evangelical gift."
John Paul II, the globe-trotting, Polish-born pontiff renowned for his charisma, is credited with contributing to the fall of communism. He visited more than 130 countries, reaching out to millions of Catholics. He was particularly close to young people, establishing the highly-successful world youth days.
The Argentinean-born Pope Francis, the first pontiff to hail from the Americas, has similarly begun tilting the church away from the U.S. and Europe, emphasizing the fast-growing areas Asia, Latin America and Africa. John Paul II "was a great missionary of the Church," said Pope Francis last year. "He brought the Gospel everywhere."
The Vatican has confirmed that retired Pope Benedict XVI is invited to the ceremony at St. Peter's Basilica. The prospect of two popes potentially attending a canonization of two popes whom they knew personally has drawn world attention, as well as millions of pilgrims to Rome in recent days.
If Benedict attends, "Rome will witness an event that has never happened in the Church's history: two living popes witnessing the canonization of two former popes," said Msgr. Liberio Andreatta, vice president of the Vatican-linked Rome Pilgrimages Organization and among the organizers of the double canonization.
more:
online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304788404579523802070217962?mod=WSJ_hp_RightTopStories&mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702304788404579523802070217962.html%3Fmod%3DWSJ_hp_RightTopStories
