BEATIFICATION
— Pilgrims hold handkerchiefs featuring Blessed
Pope John Paul II before the start of a mass of thanksgiving in celebration
of his beatification in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican May 2. The
mass was celebrated by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary
of state. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
Beatification
events highlight Blessed John Paul's courage, faith
By
Cindy Wooden
Catholic
News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope
John Paul II was a true believer, a courageous voice of truth and a
man whose witness to the faith grew more eloquent as his ability to
speak declined, Pope Benedict XVI and others who worked closely with
the late pope said at events for his beatification.
"John Paul II is blessed because of his faith -- a strong, generous
and apostolic faith," Pope Benedict said May 1 just minutes after
formally beatifying his predecessor.
In the beatification proclamation,
Pope Benedict said that after a consultation with many bishops and faithful
and a study by the Congregation for Saints' Causes, he had decided that
"the venerable servant of God, John Paul II, pope, henceforth will
be called blessed" and his feast will be Oct. 22, the anniversary
of the inauguration of his pontificate in 1978.
Italian police said that
for the beatification mass more than 1 million people were gathered
in and around the Vatican and in front of large video screens in several
parts of Rome. The next morning 60,000 people gathered in St. Peter's
Square for a mass in thanksgiving for the beatification.
The official celebrations
began with a nighttime prayer vigil April 30 at the Circus Maximus,
the site of ancient Roman racetrack.
The crowd -- estimated at
about 200,000 people -- cheered French Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, whose
cure from Parkinson's disease was accepted as the miracle that paved
the way for Pope John Paul's beatification. The nun beamed as she recounted
her unexpected healing.
She said when she was diagnosed
with Parkinson's in 2001 at the age of 40, she found it difficult to
watch Pope John Paul, who suffered from the same disease. "I saw
in him the image of my illness. But I admired his strength and courage,"
she said.
Two months after the pope
died, her condition worsened. Then, after prayers to the late pope,
she awoke early one morning feeling well rested.
"I felt something had changed in me, and I was healed," she
said. The crowd in the Circus Maximus erupted in applause.
Many others in the crowds
for the events also had personal stories about Pope John Paul. Likewise,
Pope Benedict ended his homily at the beatification mass sharing his
own personal story.
"I would like to thank
God for the gift of having worked for many years with Blessed Pope John
Paul II," he said.
As prefect of the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith from 1982 until his election in 2005,
Pope Benedict said he worked at the pope's side "and came to revere
him."
"His example of prayer
continually impressed and edified me: he remained deeply united to God
even amid the many demands of his ministry," the pope said.
Pope Benedict said that even
at the moment of his death people "perceived the fragrance of his
sanctity and in any number of ways God's people showed their veneration
for him. For this reason, with all due respect for the church's canonical
norms, I wanted his cause of beatification to move forward with reasonable
haste."
After the mass, Pope Benedict
went into St. Peter's Basilica and knelt in prayer for four minutes
before Blessed John Paul's casket, which was set in front of the main
altar. After the pope left, the concelebrating cardinals filed up to
the wooden casket, touching it lightly and kissing it.
Later, the Vatican opened
the basilica to the general public and kept it open
until 3 a.m. Vatican police said 250,000 people filed past the casket
or knelt in prayer near it in those first 13 hours. The basilica was
opened again after the thanksgiving mass May 2 so more people could
pay their respects.
Presiding at the mass of
thanksgiving May 2, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of
state, thanked God for "having given us a pope able to give the
Catholic Church not only a universal reach and a moral authority on
a global level like never before," but also one who helped Catholics
be "more spiritual, more biblical and more centred on the Word
of God."
"Finally, we thank the
Lord for having given us a saint like him," Bertone said.
Polish Cardinal Stanislaw
Dziwisz of Krakow, who was Pope John Paul's personal secretary for nearly
40 years, spoke at the beginning of the thanksgiving mass, noting that
the late pope was declared blessed in the same square where almost 30
years ago a Turkish gunman tried to assassinate him.
"We can never forget
that 30 years ago, in this very square, he gave his blood for the cause
of Christ," Dziwisz said.
The assassination attempt
took place May 13, 1981, while the pope was riding through the square
during his weekly general audience.
During the beatification
mass May 1, a silver reliquary containing a vial of Blessed John Paul's
blood was carried up to the altar by Polish Sister Tobiana Sobodka,
who ran Pope John Paul's household, and by Sister Marie Simon-Pierre,
who was cured of Parkinson's disease.
The reliquary, a sculpture
of olive branches, also was carried in procession to the altar at the
thanksgiving mass.
While the biggest groups
of pilgrims at the beatification events came from Italy and Poland,
more than 80 countries sent official delegations and most of them had
at least a few pilgrims present as well.
Thousands of people spent
a chilly, damp night camped out near the Vatican in an attempt to find
a place in St. Peter's Square. The gates were scheduled to open at 5:30
a.m. for the 10 a.m. mass, but the crowds were so large that police
began letting people in at 2 a.m.
Weather forecasts of a weekend
of heavy rains turned into innocuous grey clouds April 30 and then sunny
skies May 1, which many attributed to Blessed John Paul.
"We prayed to John Paul
that it wouldn't rain," Josephine Faehrmann, a young woman from
Sydney, Australia, said at the April 30 vigil. She and her friends planned
to sleep outside.
By 12:30 a.m. on beatification
day, thousands of people already were camping out against buildings,
on strips of grass and on sidewalks several blocks from the Vatican
since all access roads to St. Peter's Square were closed.
Isabel Marin, 16, said she
and her two friends from Madrid, Spain, stayed on the street all night.
She had a brand new air mattress, but didn't have room to unroll it.
Although she was only 10
when Pope John Paul died, Marin said, "our parents have told us
a lot about him and told us this was a great opportunity to grow our
faith."
"Pope John Paul was
a wonderful pope. He was like us. My mom showed me a video where he
was watching a clown and really laughing. And I saw another video where
he moved his feet when the people were singing, following the beat,"
she said.
- - -
Contributing to this story were John Thavis and Carol Glatz at the
Vatican.
Copyright (c) 2011 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops
AERIAL VIEW TAKEN DURING BEATIFICATION OF POPE JOHN PAUL II — People pack St. Peter's Square and the Via della Conciliazione leading up to the square during the beatification of Pope John Paul II May 1 at the Vatican. The late Polish pontiff moved a step closer to sainthood during a joyous ceremony that drew more than 1 million people. This aerial view photo provided by the Italian National Police. (CNS photo/Massimo Sestini, Italian National Police via Catholic Press Photo)
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