(**
Please refer to website references at the conclusion of this article for
important revelation on these popes)
Pope Francis Declares Popes John Paul II and John XXIII
Saints in History-Making Canonization — See the Stunning Photos
Apr. 27, 2014 7:22am Billy Hallowell
VATICAN CITY (TheBlaze/AP) — A massive audience showed up Sunday
to see a historic dual papal canonization — the first in history. Pope Francis
presided over the event, which was a public proclamation of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII’s sainthood.
(?)
Adding to the historic and uncommon nature of the canonization was the fact
that two living pontiffs were present, as Pope
Benedict XVI was in attendance. Never before has a reigning and
retired pope celebrated Mass together in public, much less at an event honoring
two of their most famous predecessors.Francis took a deep breath and paused for a moment before reciting the saint-making formula in Latin, as if moved by the history he was about to make.
He said that after deliberating, consulting and praying for divine assistance “we declare and define Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II be saints and we enroll them among the saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole church.”
Applause broke out from a crowd that stretched from St. Peter’s to the Tiber River and beyond.
See stunning images from the canonization below:
Historic Canonization of Two Popes
·
Pope Francis delivers his blessing during a solemn
canonization ceremony in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 27,
2014. Pope Francis has declared his two predecessors John XXIII and John Paul
II saints in an unprecedented canonization ceremony made even more historic by
the presence of retired Pope Benedict XVI. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
·
Faithful
fill St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 27, 2014. (AP Photo/Andrew
Medichini)
·
A boy
is helped by his mother to touch a statue of Roman Catholic Pope John Paul II
on display with other relics of the late Pope as well as Pope John XXIII in
celebration of their canonization or the elevation to sainthood Sunday, April
27, 2014 at suburban Quezon city, northeast of Manila, Philippines. (AP Photo/Bullit
Marquez)
·
From left, Queen Paola of Belgium, King Albert II of
Belgium, Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Silvia attend a solemn celebration
led by Pope Francis I where two Popes, John Paul II and John XXIII, were
canonized in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 27, 2014. (AP
Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
·
Pope
Francis touches a statue of the Virgin Mary as he leads a solemn ceremony in
St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 27, 2014. (AP Photo/Gregorio
Borgia)
·
Faithful
wear 3D glasses as they watch the screening of the canonization of Pope John
XXIII and Pope John Paul II taking place at the Vatican, at the parish church
in Sotto il Monte Giovanni XXIII, near Bergamo, northern Italy, the town of
John XXIII, Sunday, April 27, 2014. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
·
Devotees
take photos of the relics of Roman Catholic Pope John Paul II and Pope John
XXIII on display in a shopping mall Sunday, April 27, 2014 at suburban Quezon
city, northeast of Manila, Philippines. Pope Francis declared his two
predecessors John XXIII and John Paul II saints on Sunday before hundreds of
thousands of people in St. Peter's Square, an unprecedented ceremony made even
more historic by the presence of retired Pope Benedict XVI. The predominantly
Roman Catholic Philippines joins several nations worldwide in the celebration
of canonization of Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII. (AP Photo/Bullit
Marquez)
XXIII. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)
·
Paraguay's people react as they look at a TV screen showing
the Vatican ceremony of a historic day of four popes, with Popes Francis and
Benedict XVI honoring John XXIII and John Paul II by declaring them saints, at
Nazareth church in Asuncion, Paraguay, Sunday, April 27, 2014.(AP Photo/Jorge
Saenz)
·
People
fill via della Conciliazione, the road leading to St. Peter's Square, at the
Vatican, Sunday, April 27, 2014. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
·
Faithful
fill St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 27, 2014. (AP
Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
·
Prelates
gather in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 27, 2014. (AP
Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
·
Floribeth
Mora, a Costa Rican woman whose inoperable brain aneurysm purportedly
disappeared after she prayed to John Paul II, grabs a relic of Pope John Paul
II during a solemn ceremony in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April
27, 2014. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
·
The
tapestry showing Pope John XXIII hangs from the facade of St. Peter's Basilica
during a solemn celebration led by Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the
Vatican, Sunday, April 27, 2014. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
·
Pope
Francis gets his skullcap adjusted as he leads a solemn ceremony in St. Peter's
Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 27, 2014. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
·
Don
Ezio Bolis, Director of the John XXIII foundation and the Roncalli family,
carries the relic of Pope John XXIII past Pope Francis, during a solemn
ceremony in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 27, 2014. (AP
Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 27, 2014. (AP
Photo/Domenico Stinellis)
“Four popes in one ceremony is a fantastic thing to see and to be at because
it is history being written in our sight,” marveled one of the visiting Poles,
David Halfar. “It is wonderful to be a part in this and to live all of this.”Most of those who arrived first at St. Peter’s had camped out overnight nearby on air mattresses and sleeping pads. Others hadn’t slept at all and took part in the all-night prayer vigils hosted at a dozen churches in downtown Rome.
By mid-morning, the scene in the square was quiet and subdued — perhaps due to the chilly gray skies and cumulative lack of sleep — unlike the rollicking party atmosphere of John Paul’s May 2011 beatification when bands of young people sang and danced in the hours before the Mass.
As TheBlaze highlighted yesterday in a preview of today’s big event, there are a number of qualifications one must meet in order to be considered a 'saint' — and the process the Catholic Church goes through before canonization is possible is complex and extensive.
Both Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II met these qualifications — miracles and all. And both for very different reasons.
Pope John XXIII, who reigned from 1958-1963, is a hero to liberal Catholics for having convened the Second Vatican Council. The meetings brought the church into the modern era by allowing Mass to be celebrated in local languages rather than Latin and by encouraging greater dialogue with people of other faiths, particularly Jews.
During his quarter-century papacy from 1978-2005, John Paul II helped topple communism through his support of Poland’s Solidarity movement. His globe-trotting papacy and launch of the wildly popular World Youth Days invigorated a new generation of Catholics, while his defense of core church teaching heartened conservatives after the turbulent 1960s.
“John Paul was our pope,” said Therese Andjoua, a 49-year-old nurse who traveled from Libreville, Gabon, with some 300 other pilgrims to attend. She sported a traditional African dress bearing the images of the two new saints.
“In 1982 he came to Gabon and when he arrived he kissed the ground and told us to ‘Get up, go forward and be not afraid,’” she recalled as she rested against a pallet of water bottles. “When we heard he was going to be canonized, we got up.”
Kings, queens, presidents and prime ministers from more than 90 countries attended. Some 20 Jewish leaders from the U.S., Israel, Italy, Francis’ native Argentina and Poland were also taking part, in a clear sign of their appreciation for the great strides made in Catholic-Jewish relations under John, John Paul — and their successors celebrating their sainthood.
Read more about how someone becomes a saint here.
CONSIDER THIS:
** http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Roman%20Catholicism/satanism_in_the_vatican.htm
http://www.freemasonrywatch.org/roncalli_popejohnxxiii.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVayBG7eJvU&feature=related
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Roman%20Catholicism/pope-devil-masonic_lodge.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b52irbjSVWA&feature=player_detailpage
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/False%20Religions/Wicca%20&%20Witchcraft/signs/signs_of_satan3.htm
http://www.cuttingedge.org/news/n2029.cfm
http://www.endtimeschristianity.com/cgi-bin/webbbs_files/webbbs_config.pl?read=1256
http://adishakti.org/book_of_revelation/revelation_17.1-2.htm