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| Popes John Paul II and John XXIII are made saints at Vatican ceremony | Popes John Paul II and John XXIII are made saints at Vatican ceremony |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| VATICAN CITY — In front of a sprawling sea of pilgrims fanning out from St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis on Sunday canonized John Paul II and John XXIII, bestowing sainthood on two towering figures of the 20th century who left outsize marks on the Roman Catholic Church. | |
| Hypnotic choruses of the Sistine Chapel choir rang out across a throng estimated at 800,000 faithful from the Vatican to beyond the Tiber River, where spillover crowds gathered before big screens. They watched as, for first time in the church’s ancient history, two popes were proclaimed saints at once. | Hypnotic choruses of the Sistine Chapel choir rang out across a throng estimated at 800,000 faithful from the Vatican to beyond the Tiber River, where spillover crowds gathered before big screens. They watched as, for first time in the church’s ancient history, two popes were proclaimed saints at once. |
| In fact, Sunday’s event was a tale of four popes, with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI — who retired last year — also present in the wings. | In fact, Sunday’s event was a tale of four popes, with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI — who retired last year — also present in the wings. |
| Just beyond the imposing facade of St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis, dressed in ivory robes, preformed the somber rite with recitations and the sign of the cross, triggering a burst of applause. | Just beyond the imposing facade of St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis, dressed in ivory robes, preformed the somber rite with recitations and the sign of the cross, triggering a burst of applause. |
| John Paul II remained fresher in the minds of many gathered here than John XXIII, and it was his popularity in particular that appeared the biggest draw. At least 1,700 buses, 58 charter flights and five train-loads of pilgrims rolled in just from Poland, homeland of John Paul II, who, when elected pope in 1978, was the first non-Italian to sit on the throne of St. Peter in 455 years. | John Paul II remained fresher in the minds of many gathered here than John XXIII, and it was his popularity in particular that appeared the biggest draw. At least 1,700 buses, 58 charter flights and five train-loads of pilgrims rolled in just from Poland, homeland of John Paul II, who, when elected pope in 1978, was the first non-Italian to sit on the throne of St. Peter in 455 years. |
| “Some people believe that saints are prefect, but rather than prefect, I believe that John Paul II was heroic,” said Lukasz Piotrowski, a 30-year old who came from Krakow, Poland camped out with his newlywed wife to witness the event. He was one of thousands waving the red and white colors of the Polish flag. “He challenged communism, he changed Poland, and he changed history.” | “Some people believe that saints are prefect, but rather than prefect, I believe that John Paul II was heroic,” said Lukasz Piotrowski, a 30-year old who came from Krakow, Poland camped out with his newlywed wife to witness the event. He was one of thousands waving the red and white colors of the Polish flag. “He challenged communism, he changed Poland, and he changed history.” |
| By declaring both men saints on the same day, the crusading new pontiff, and the first Latin American pope, had apparently set out to please both reformers and traditionalists. | By declaring both men saints on the same day, the crusading new pontiff, and the first Latin American pope, had apparently set out to please both reformers and traditionalists. |
| Born Karol Jozef Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland, in 1920, John Paul II is seen as the first truly global pope, a charismatic conservative known for stirring oration and staring down communism even as he stood firmly against birth control and divorce. | Born Karol Jozef Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland, in 1920, John Paul II is seen as the first truly global pope, a charismatic conservative known for stirring oration and staring down communism even as he stood firmly against birth control and divorce. |
| John XXIII, meanwhile, launched the sweeping reforms of the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s that made the Catholic Mass, once said in Latin, switch to the common tongues of the faithful. | John XXIII, meanwhile, launched the sweeping reforms of the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s that made the Catholic Mass, once said in Latin, switch to the common tongues of the faithful. |
| In his words on Sunday, Francis, already solidly viewed as a reformer 13 months into his papacy, endorsed the spirit of Vatican II and the need to “update and renovate” the church. | In his words on Sunday, Francis, already solidly viewed as a reformer 13 months into his papacy, endorsed the spirit of Vatican II and the need to “update and renovate” the church. |
| “Saints are those who move the church forward and make it grow,” said the pope, who at times sounded tired and was occasionally aided as he moved around and behind the altar. | “Saints are those who move the church forward and make it grow,” said the pope, who at times sounded tired and was occasionally aided as he moved around and behind the altar. |
| Without doubt, though, Francis himself appeared an enormous draw. Katie Truso, a 21 year old Catholic studies student from Minnesota who camped out overnight with a group of Americans to get a good perch, was young at the height of John Paul II’s papacy. But she compared the excitement young Catholics were feeling about Francis to what it must have felt like for an older generation and John Paul II. | Without doubt, though, Francis himself appeared an enormous draw. Katie Truso, a 21 year old Catholic studies student from Minnesota who camped out overnight with a group of Americans to get a good perch, was young at the height of John Paul II’s papacy. But she compared the excitement young Catholics were feeling about Francis to what it must have felt like for an older generation and John Paul II. |
| “I feel like those days of JPII are back, you know, all that sense of excitement,” she said. “I think it was always there, but we had just forgotten what it was like.” | “I feel like those days of JPII are back, you know, all that sense of excitement,” she said. “I think it was always there, but we had just forgotten what it was like.” |
| Sunday’s ceremony began in a light drizzle at 10 a.m., with a procession, clouds of ritual incense, and a religious litany ringing up from the square. | Sunday’s ceremony began in a light drizzle at 10 a.m., with a procession, clouds of ritual incense, and a religious litany ringing up from the square. |
| Cardinal Angelo Amato, the Vatican’s gatekeeper of saints, asked Francis three times for the canonization of the two popes, a gesture mean to signify the importance of the moment. After a reading from the pope, two reliquaries – vessels of silver, bronze and gold — were carried and placed to the left of the altar. One contained a vial of John Paul II’s blood, the other a piece of John XXIII skin taken from his exhumed body. | Cardinal Angelo Amato, the Vatican’s gatekeeper of saints, asked Francis three times for the canonization of the two popes, a gesture mean to signify the importance of the moment. After a reading from the pope, two reliquaries – vessels of silver, bronze and gold — were carried and placed to the left of the altar. One contained a vial of John Paul II’s blood, the other a piece of John XXIII skin taken from his exhumed body. |
| The event was bringing together two men in death who in life were viewed as considerably different. | The event was bringing together two men in death who in life were viewed as considerably different. |
| Although the making of saints can take centuries, John Paul II’s took a record nine years. The clamor of his sainthood began at his stirring funeral, where shouts rang out from mourners of “Santo Subito!” – Sainthood now! | Although the making of saints can take centuries, John Paul II’s took a record nine years. The clamor of his sainthood began at his stirring funeral, where shouts rang out from mourners of “Santo Subito!” – Sainthood now! |
| On May 13, 1981, he survived an assassination attempt by a Turkish extremist whose 9mm bullets perforated his abdomen and intestines. | On May 13, 1981, he survived an assassination attempt by a Turkish extremist whose 9mm bullets perforated his abdomen and intestines. |
| “In 1981, right after he was shot in St. Peter’s Square, while on the ambulance, he quietly prayed for the shooter,” said Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz of Krakow. “He didn’t yet know who he was, but he had already forgiven him.” | “In 1981, right after he was shot in St. Peter’s Square, while on the ambulance, he quietly prayed for the shooter,” said Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz of Krakow. “He didn’t yet know who he was, but he had already forgiven him.” |
| But the man known as “God’s Athlete” for his vigor (he used to jog in the Vatican gardens) persevered, going on to travel the globe in a manner not seen by any pope before him, filling stadiums and energizing Catholics from Rio de Janeiro to Warsaw. In his winter, the world watched as he set an example, refusing to give in to Parkinson’s disease and continuing his ministry even as his condition grew more and more acute. | But the man known as “God’s Athlete” for his vigor (he used to jog in the Vatican gardens) persevered, going on to travel the globe in a manner not seen by any pope before him, filling stadiums and energizing Catholics from Rio de Janeiro to Warsaw. In his winter, the world watched as he set an example, refusing to give in to Parkinson’s disease and continuing his ministry even as his condition grew more and more acute. |
| Yet amid the celebratory mood, there remained a cloud over John Paul II. Accusations still swirl that he neglected to respond swiftly to the widespread sexual abuse of children by Catholics clerics that began to publicly emerge during his papacy. In an open letter published on the Web site of the survivor’s network SNAP, a number of victims highlighted the “great harm” committed as “he turned a blind eye to “clergy sexual crimes and cover ups.” | Yet amid the celebratory mood, there remained a cloud over John Paul II. Accusations still swirl that he neglected to respond swiftly to the widespread sexual abuse of children by Catholics clerics that began to publicly emerge during his papacy. In an open letter published on the Web site of the survivor’s network SNAP, a number of victims highlighted the “great harm” committed as “he turned a blind eye to “clergy sexual crimes and cover ups.” |
| “At worst, he perpetuated and approved them,” the signers said in their letter. “For him to now be given the highest honor in the church rubs even more salt into the already deep and still fresh wounds of thousands of struggling victims and millions of betrayed Catholics and victims.” | “At worst, he perpetuated and approved them,” the signers said in their letter. “For him to now be given the highest honor in the church rubs even more salt into the already deep and still fresh wounds of thousands of struggling victims and millions of betrayed Catholics and victims.” |
| Though perhaps overshadowed by John Paul II’s fame, John XXIII’s impact on the Roman Catholic Church was perhaps even larger. He launched the Second Vatican Council that ushered in sweeping reforms, encouraging more participation of the laity in church life, bringing guitar-playing folk singers into stodgy Catholic Masses and aiding the Vatican’s often rocky relations with other faiths. | Though perhaps overshadowed by John Paul II’s fame, John XXIII’s impact on the Roman Catholic Church was perhaps even larger. He launched the Second Vatican Council that ushered in sweeping reforms, encouraging more participation of the laity in church life, bringing guitar-playing folk singers into stodgy Catholic Masses and aiding the Vatican’s often rocky relations with other faiths. |
| Like Francis today, John XXIII, the son of Italian farmers, was viewed as an everyman’s pope who spoke not in arcane terms but plainly and simply. | Like Francis today, John XXIII, the son of Italian farmers, was viewed as an everyman’s pope who spoke not in arcane terms but plainly and simply. |
| One place where John XXIII, born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli in 1881, remains exceedingly popular is Italy itself, where prayer cards and photos of the rotund “Good Pope” still abound in restaurants and taxis from Sicily to Milan. Though serving a global church, the good-natured pope was always seen as an Italian, through and through — a man almost as liable to crack a joke as pray. | One place where John XXIII, born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli in 1881, remains exceedingly popular is Italy itself, where prayer cards and photos of the rotund “Good Pope” still abound in restaurants and taxis from Sicily to Milan. Though serving a global church, the good-natured pope was always seen as an Italian, through and through — a man almost as liable to crack a joke as pray. |
| “When he died at 81, I did not watch an old man die, but a child,” said Cardinal Loris Capovilla, John XXIII’s former personal secretary. “He had a smile on his lips.” | “When he died at 81, I did not watch an old man die, but a child,” said Cardinal Loris Capovilla, John XXIII’s former personal secretary. “He had a smile on his lips.” |
| Stefano Pitrelli contributed to this report. | Stefano Pitrelli contributed to this report. |