Crowds Gather for Popes' Double Canonisation

Thousands of people gather at the Vatican for the canonisation of two Popes Emeritus, John Paul II and John XXIII. Pope Benedict leads the unprecedented mass in which his two predecessors are declared saints of the Roman Catholic church. Foreign leaders including Robert Mugabe and Enda Kenny were present for the service

THE GUARDIAN: Popes John Paul II and John XXIII declared saints in double canonization: Hundreds of thousands gather at Rome to witness canonisation of two great figures of 20th-century Roman Catholicism » | Lizzy Davies in Vatican Vity | Sunday, April 27, 2014

Johannes Paul II. Der erste selige Superstar
Bild: Frankfurter Allgemeine
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Es schien Benedikt XVI. leicht zu fallen, auf den Wunsch aus der Weltkirche einzugehen: die Seligsprechung von Johannes Paul II. Am Wochenende stellte er sich selbst in den Schatten seines Vorgängers - in einen Schatten also, der Weggefährten leuchten lässt.

Am Sonntag um 10.36 Uhr brachen mehr als eine Millionen Menschen auf dem Petersplatz und in der Umgebung in Jubel aus. Noch weiter entfernt liegende Straßen versanken in einem Meer von meist polnischen Fahnen. Der Beifall schreckte die Stare, Möwen und zwei Wildenten auf ihren Rastplätzen auf der Engelsburg auf und ließ sie in den Himmel über Rom entschwinden. Menschen brachen in Freudentränen aus und die Verbindungen der Mobiltelefone brachen zusammen. Selbst die Sonne sandte nach Tagen des Regens wärmende Strahlen herab. „Rom und der Weltkreis“ feierten: „Johannes Paul II. ist selig“. » | Von Jörg Bremer, Rom | Sonntag, 01. Mai 2011

Pope John Paul II Beatified at the Vatican

Seligsprechung von Johannes Paul II. Innozenz XI. musste weichen
FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Papst Benedikt XVI. hat Johannes Paul II. selig gesprochen. Hunderttausende verfolgten in Rom die Messe. Derart viele, dass selbst Papst Innozenz XI. musste weichen. Oder gab es andere Gründe für dessen Umbettung?

Zum Vatikan gehören Verschwörungsgeschichten. Gerade entsteht eine um den seligen Papst Innozenz XI. (1611-1689), der jetzt aus seiner Grabstätte in der Sebastiankapelle von Sankt Peter weichen musste. Am Wochenende soll an seiner statt Papst Johannes Paul II. (1920-2005) seine letzte Ruhe finden. Am Sonntag wird der Vorgänger von Benedikt XVI. seliggesprochen. Dafür wird sein Sarg aus den Grotten in die Basilika hinaufgebracht. Für die Pilger war es unten zu eng geworden. Zunächst waren Messen am Grab von Karol Wojtyla unweit des Petrusgrabes eine Ausnahme. Mittlerweile werden sie genau gestaffelt, denn fast 20.000 Menschen täglich wollen dem früheren Papst ihre Reverenz erweisen. » | Von Jörg Bremer, Rom | Sonntag, 01. Mai 2011

Pilgrims Prepare for Beatification of John Paul II
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Thousands of excited pilgrims swarmed into central Rome on Saturday on the eve of a ceremony to mark late pope John Paul II's step towards sainthood, as the Vatican geared up for the show.

"I couldn't miss this, I had to be a part of such a historical moment. We've only just arrived but the atmosphere's great, it's really exciting," said Patricia Wocial, 48, who had come from Britain with her young daughters.

"It's their first pilgrimage and will certainly be an experience to remember," she added, as they stood among the crowds, gazing up at a vast poster of John Paul II hanging from the stone columns outside the Vatican.

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims are expected to descend on the Italian capital for Sunday's beatification, which will confer a "blessed" status on the charismatic pope, who died in 2005 after reigning for nearly 27 years.

In preparation, the late pope's coffin has been brought out of its resting place in a crypt under Saint Peter's basilica and a phial of John Paul's blood, taken from him during his illness, has been prepared as a relic for veneration.

At least 100,000 people are expected to attend a vigil on Saturday evening to hear those who were close to John Paul II speak. While some then head off to bed, others will take advantage of churches which are staying open all night. » | Saturday, April 30, 2011

Sexual-Abuse Scandal Shakes Europe Church's Core

John Paul ‘Ignored Abuse of 2,000 Boys’
Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer abused an estimated 2,000 boys for decades without sanction. Photo: The Sunday Times
THE SUNDAY TIMES: When John Paul II died five years ago the crowd that packed St Peter’s Square for his funeral clamoured “Santo subito (Saint now)!” in a spontaneous tribute to the charisma of the Polish pontiff.

As the faithful marked the anniversary of John Paul’s death on Good Friday, however, he was being drawn into the scandal over child abuse in the Catholic church that has confronted his successor, Benedict XVI, with the worst crisis of his reign.

Allegations that the late pontiff blocked an inquiry into a paedophile cardinal, promoted senior church figures despite accusations that they had molested boys and covered up innumerable cases of abuse during his 26-year papacy have cast a cloud over his path to sainthood.

The most serious claims related to Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer, an Austrian friend of John Paul’s who abused an estimated 2,000 boys over decades but never faced any sanction from Rome.

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Groer’s successor, criticised the handling of that scandal and other abuse cases last week after holding a special service in St Stephen’s cathedral, Vienna, entitled “Admitting our guilt”.

Schönborn condemned the “sinful structures” within the church and the patterns of “silencing” victims and “looking away”.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — who became Pope Benedict — had tried to investigate the abuses as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, according to Schönborn. But his efforts had been blocked by “the Vatican”, an apparent reference to John Paul. >>> Bojan Pancevski in Vienna and John Follain in Rome | Easter Sunday, April 04, 2010

Le pape Benoît XVI en visite à la synagogue de Rome
LE MONDE: Vingt-quatre ans après la visite historique qu'y avait effectuée son prédécesseur Jean Paul II, le pape Benoît XVI doit se rendre, dimanche 17 janvier, à la synagogue de Rome. La visite, prévue de longue date, intervient un mois après que Benoît XVI eut, une nouvelle fois, soulevé la colère d'une partie de la communauté juive mondiale en proclamant, le 19 décembre, les "vertus héroïques" du pape Pie XII. Cette étape a ouvert la voie à la possible béatification de ce pape controversé pour son attitude envers les juifs durant la seconde guerre mondiale.

La relance du processus de béatification, qui avait pris de court le monde catholique, avait été suspendue afin de ne pas envenimer les relations entre le Vatican et le monde juif mises à mal en janvier 2009 par la levée de l'excommunication d'un évêque négationniste, Richard Williamson. L'annonce de décembre a durant quelques jours laissé planer le doute sur la venue du pape à la synagogue. Le président des rabbins italiens a décidé de boycotter l'événement.

"Nous devons dire à la communauté juive ce que Pie XII a fait en faveur des juifs pendant la seconde guerre mondiale et qui n'est pas assez connu", a de son côté défendu le cardinal Walter Kasper, chargé au Vatican des relations avec les juifs. "Pie XII a suivi la volonté de Dieu telle qu'il la comprenait à cette époque, nous ne pouvons le juger avec la mentalité d'aujourd'hui." >>> Stéphanie Le Bars | Samedi 16 Janvier 2010

Jewish Leaders Confront Pope Over Vatican's Holocaust 'Silence'
THE TELEGRAPH: A Jewish leader told the Pope on Sunday that his controversial wartime predecessor, Pius XII, should have protested more forcefully against Jews being sent to the "ovens of Auschwitz".

Pius's "silence" at a time when hundreds of thousands of Jews were being rounded up across Europe and despatched to death camps was still hurtful, Riccardo Pacifici, the president of Rome's Jewish community, said as Pope Benedict XVI visited the city's synagogue for the first time.

The criticism was one of the bluntest comments made in public by a Jewish leader to a pope.

"The silence of Pius XII before the Shoah (Holocaust) still hurts because something should have been done," Mr Pacifici told the pontiff during an address to the synagogue, which lies in an area of central Rome still known as the Ghetto, where Jews were confined for centuries on the orders of the Vatican.

"Maybe it would not have stopped the death trains, but it would have sent a signal, a word of extreme comfort, of human solidarity, towards those brothers of ours transported to the ovens of Auschwitz," he said.

The Vatican had hoped that the synagogue visit would rebuild bridges with the Jewish world, after the German-born Benedict dismayed Jews by rehabilitating a Holocaust-denying British renegade bishop a year ago, and by advancing Pius further along the path to sainthood by recognising his "heroic virtues" last month.

The fact that Benedict is German and served during the war in the Hitler Youth – albeit against his will – makes Jewish sensitivities all the more acute.

The Vatican claims that Pius, who was Pope from 1939 to 1958, worked behind the scenes to save Jews and allowed thousands of refugees to hide in church institutions.

The Roman Catholic Church insists that he feared that criticising Hitler more strongly would have provoked even more severe persecution of the Jews. >>> Nick Squires in Rome | Sunday, January 17, 2010

Controversial Pope Moves Closer to Sainthood
TIMES ONLINE: The controversial wartime pope accused of failing to openly condemn the Holocaust has moved a step closer to sainthood, the Vatican has confirmed.

Pope Pius XII will be declared venerable after the current pontiff Pope Benedict XVI approved a "heroic virtues decree", the first of three stages before canonisation.

To be declared venerable, a church investigation has to conclude that the person in question lived a life of exemplary holiness and heroic virtue. There must be nothing in the dead person’s writings that enables these characteristics to be challenged. >>> Simon Alford | Saturday, December 19, 2009

Pope John Paul II 'Whipped Himself in Remorse for Sins'
THE TELEGRAPH: Pope John Paul II regularly whipped himself in a sign of "remorse for his sins", a nun has claimed.

Pope John Paul II. Photo: The Telegraph
The Pope, who died five years ago, is being considered for sainthood by the Catholic Church.

As part of the Vatican's investigation thousands of documents have been collected and examined by officials from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Among them is the testimony of Tobiana Sobodka, a Polish nun of the Sacred Heart of Jesus order, who worked for Pope John Paul in his private Vatican apartments and at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo near Rome.

Sister Sobodka said: "Several times he (Pope John Paul) would put himself through bodily penance.

"We would hear it – we were in the next room at Castel Gandolfo. You could hear the sound of the blows when he flagellate himself. He did it when he was still capable of moving on his own."

The flagellation is also confirmed by another bishop who has given testimony. Emery Kabongo was a secretary for Pope John Paul.

"He would punish himself and in particular just before he ordained bishops and priests," he said.

"I never actually saw it myself but several people told me about it."

Self flagellation is sometimes used by devoted Catholics as it reminds them of the whipping endured by Christ at the hands of the Romans before he was crucified. >>> Nick Pisa in Perugia | Monday, November 23, 2009

Pope Gunman Wants to Convert to Christianity
ASSOCIATED PRESS: ANKARA, Turkey — The gunman who shot Pope John Paul II says he would like to convert to Christianity at a baptism ceremony at the Vatican after his release from prison in January.

In comments relayed by his lawyer on Wednesday, Mehmet Ali Agca also says he wants to visit the grave of Pope John Paul II, meet with Pope Benedict XVI and produce a television documentary on the Vatican. >>> Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press | Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Dancing Pope Advert Banned
THE TELEGRAPH: A nightclub leaflet showing the late Pope John Paul II holding a bottle of beer and dancing with a blonde woman has been banned.

The leaflet shows Pope John Paul II with a bottle of beer dancing with a blonde woman wearing a short dress . Image courtesy of The Telegraph
The Advertising Standards Authority branded the flyer offensive and ordered it to be removed a complaint by the Ipswich and Suffolk Council for Racial Equality (ISCRE) on behalf of angry Poles and Catholics.

The leaflet showed Pope John Paul II with a bottle of beer dancing with a blonde woman wearing a short dress.

It was distributed to promote a night called Berserk at Club Fire nightclub in Ipswich.

Sheila Soltysik, secretary of Ipswich Polish Club, said a local Polish girl had complained to her.

She said: "It was hugely offensive. The sheer volume of the reaction is what made us take the matter to ISCRE.

"It is unfortunate that the thoughtless actions of a marketing idea has created dismay amongst the Polish community and Catholic religion by depicting figures of high moral standards amongst ideas of inappropriate behaviour and surroundings.

"Perhaps to some it may have innocent connotations but to the majority of sensible people it is deeply upsetting." >>> | Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Shocking Images that Linger
Photo of the late Pope John Paul II kissing the Koran courtesy of Google Images
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)

Numbers of Nuns and Monks Decline by 10%
Photo of Audrey Hepburn as Sister Luke in ‘The Nun’s Story’ (1959) courtesy of Google Images
BBC: The Vatican has reported a further dramatic fall in the number of Roman Catholic monks and nuns worldwide.

Newly published statistics showed that the number of men and women belonging to religious orders fell by 10% to just under a million between 2005 and 2006.

During the pontificate of the late Pope John Paul II, the number of Catholic nuns worldwide declined by a quarter.

The downward trend accelerated despite a steady increase in the membership of the Catholic Church to more than 1.1bn.

However, correspondents say even this failed to keep pace with the overall increase in world population.

Dramatic fall

On the back page of its official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican published on Monday new statistics revealing that between 2005 and 2006 the number "members of the consecrated life" fell by just under 10%.

The number of members, predominantly women, some engaged only in constant prayer, others working as teachers, health workers and missionaries, fell 94,790 to 945,210. Catholic nuns and monks decline >>>

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)