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Beatify John Paul II
January-14-11
Benedict XVI to Beatify John Paul II
Pontiff's Great Fame of Sanctity Acknowledged
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 14, 2011 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is planning to preside over the beatification rite for John Paul II on May 1, Divine Mercy Sunday, in the Vatican.
A communiqué from the Congregation for Saints' Causes announced that today the Pope, in an audience with the congregation's prefect, Cardinal Angelo Amato, "authorized the dicastery to promulgate the decree of the miracle attributed to the intercession of Venerable Servant of God John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla)."
This was the final step in the process preceding the beatification rite, which will be celebrated on Divine Mercy Sunday, a feast day instituted by John Paul II.
The communiqué noted: "It is well known that, by pontifical dispensation, his cause began before the end of the five-year period which the current norms stipulate must pass following the death of a Servant of God.
"This provision was solicited by the great fame of sanctity which Pope John Paul II enjoyed during his life, in his death and after his death.
"In all other ways, the normal canonical dispositions concerning causes of beatification and canonization were observed in full."
The diocesan investigation into the cause for beatification of the Pontiff took place between June 2005 and April 2007. On Dec. 19, 2009, Benedict XVI authorized the promulgation of the decree on his predecessor's heroic virtue.
Miracle
The congregation then examined the report of a miraculous healing through the intercession of John Paul II: the cure from Parkinson's disease of Sister Marie Simon Pierre Normand of the Little Sisters of Catholic Motherhood.
The reports of medical and legal experts on the French nun's healing were submitted to the dicastery for scientific examination last Oct. 21.
The congregation noted that its experts, "having studied the depositions and the entire documentation with their customary scrupulousness, expressed their agreement concerning the scientifically inexplicable nature of the healing."
Thus, on Dec. 14, the theological consulters began an evaluation of the case, and "unanimously recognized the unicity, antecedence and choral nature of the invocation made to Servant of God John Paul II, whose intercession was effective in this prodigious healing."
On Tuesday, during the ordinary session of the congregation, the members expressed their "unanimous approval."
The prelates expressed belief in the miraculous nature of the recovery of Sister Marie Simon Pierre, "having been achieved by God in a scientifically inexplicable manner following the intercession of the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II, trustingly invoked both by Sister Simon herself and by many other faithful." The conclusions were then submitted to Benedict XVI for approval.
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Mercy Links John Paul II Life, Death, Beatification
Spokesman Reflects on Polish Pontiff's Legacy
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 14, 2011 (Zenit.org).- When Pope John Paul II is beatified on May 1, Divine Mercy Sunday, the faithful will be celebrating a day on which he himself wanted the Church to turn its gaze toward this "consoling and enthusiastic greatness."
This reflection was offered by Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, in reference to Benedict XVI's approval today of a decree recognizing a miracle attributed to the Polish Pope's intercession, and the subsequent announcement of the date of his beatification.
The Holy Father will be beatified on Divine Mercy Sunday, which this year falls on May 1, just six years after his April 2, 2005, death on the vigil of the same feast.
"His life and his pontificate were characterized by the passion to make known to the world in which he lived -- the world of our tragic history in the course of two millennia -- the consoling and enthusiastic greatness of God's mercy. This is what the world needs," Father Lombardi said. "That is why we will have the joy of celebrating the solemn beatification on the day in which he himself wanted the whole Church to fix her gaze and prayer on this Divine Mercy."
Father Lombardi spoke of John Paul II on the most recent edition of Vatican Television's "Octava Dies."
"The Church recognizes that Karol Wojtyla gave eminent and exemplary witness of Christian life, he is a friend and an intercessor who helps the people to direct themselves to God and to encounter him," he said.
Still, the Jesuit added, although John Paul II's works are extraordinary, "we are not concentrating our attention [there], but on his spiritual source: his faith, his hope, his charity."
Father Lombardi proposed the Holy Father's works should be admired "precisely because they are an expression of the depth and authenticity of his relationship with God, of his love for Christ and for all human persons, beginning with the poor and the weak; of his tender filial love for the Mother of Jesus."
The spokesman reflected that the Polish Pontiff's legacy is his "profound and prolonged recollection in prayer; his desire to celebrate and proclaim Jesus the Redeemer and Savior of man, to make him known and loved by young people and the whole world."
He will be remembered, the Jesuit added, "for his affectionate interest in the sick and the suffering, for his visits to peoples most in need of food and justice; finally, for his patient and authentic experience of personal suffering, of sickness lived in faith before God and before all of us."
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John Paul II's Body to Be Placed in Vatican Basilica
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 14, 2011 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II's remains will be moved from the Grotto located beneath St. Peter's Basilica to a chapel in the main Church, the Vatican revealed.
"The transportation of the coffin will take place without exhumation," reported the semi-official Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, "hence Pope [John Paul II's] body will not be exposed."
The newspaper reported that the body of John Paul II will be "enclosed" and that the placement of his body will be marked "by a simple marble stone engraved with: Beatus Ioannes Paulus II."
The Pope's body will be placed in the Chapel of St. Sebastian, which is located between the Chapel of the Pieta and the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament.
The chapel houses the remains of Blessed Innocent XI (1676-1689), and is named after the main figure in the mosaic above the altar, which was completed by Pier Paolo Cristofari. Statues of Pius XI and Pius XII flank the right and left sides of the altar, respectively.
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