VATICAN INFORMATION SERVICE
YEAR XXIV - # 76
DATE 27-04-2014

Summary:
- JOHN XXIII AND JOHN PAUL II INSCRIBED IN THE BOOK OF SAINTS
- HONOUR THE MEMORY OF THE TWO SAINTS BY CONTINUING THEIR TEACHING

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 JOHN XXIII AND JOHN PAUL II INSCRIBED IN THE BOOK OF SAINTS
 Vatican City, 27 April 2014 (VIS) - Half a million people attended the
ceremony held this morning in St. Peter's Square for the canonisation of
the "two Pope saints": John XXIII and John Paul II. Since it was
opened to the public at 5 a.m., the square and its environs were filled
with faithful from all over the world; Polish pilgrims, however,
constituted one of the largest groups. The event was also attended by
delegations from over a hundred countries, more than twenty Heads of State
and many figures from the world of politics and culture, including the King
Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain, King Albert II and Queen Paola of
Belgium, Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein, Grand Duke Henri of
Luxembourg, the ex-president of the Republic of Poland Lech Walesa, the
president of the Argentine parliament Julian Dominguez and the presidents
of the European Union, Herman Van Rompuy, and the European Commission, Jose
Manuel Barroso. The celebration was also attended by Floribeth Mora Diaz
and Sister Adele Labianca, the carer of Caterina Capitani - the two women
who experienced the miracles attributed to John Paul II.
 Banners with portraits of the two saints - the same ones used for their
respective beatifications - were displayed on the facade of the Basilica.
In the square, adorned with more than 30,000 roses from Ecuador, and in Via
della Conciliazione, hundreds of thousands of faithful prepared for the
celebration by reciting the chaplet of Divine Mercy, intercalated with
texts from the magisterium of both pontiffs and preceded by the Hymn to
Blessed John XXIII, "Good Shepherd of Christ's flock". The prayer
ended with the Hymn to Blessed John Paul II, "Open the doors to
Christ".
 Under intermittent rain, and during litanies invoking the protection of
the saints, there began the procession of concelebrating cardinals and
bishops who, before taking their places, greeted Pope emeritus Benedict
XVI, who also concelebrated alongside the Holy Father. A few minutes after
10 a.m., Pope Francis entered the square and, before proceeding with the
rite for the proclamation of the new saints, greeted and embraced the Pope
emeritus.
 Moments later Cardinal Angelo Amato S.D.B:, prefect of the Congregation
for the Causes of Saints, accompanied by the postulators, asked Pope
Francis to inscribe the names of the two Blessed Popes in the Book of
Saints, and the Holy Father pronounced the formula for canonisation:
 "For the honour of the Blessed Trinity, the exaltation of the
Catholic faith and the increase of the Christian life, by the authority of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, and own
own, after due deliberation and frequent prayer for divine assistance, and
having sought the counsel of many of our brother Bishops, we declare and
define Blessed
 John XXIII
 John Paul II
 be Saints and we enrol them among the Saints, decreeing that they are to
be venerated as such by the whole Church.
 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
 Amen".
 This was followed by the presentation to the Pope of the relics of the two
saints, which were displayed on the altar throughout the ceremony; these
were a phial of the blood of John Paul II, which had been displayed on 1
May 2011, and a piece of skin removed from the body of John XXIII when it
was exhumed for his beatification on 3 September 2000.
 Following the Gospel reading, the Holy Father pronounced a homily in which
he defined St. John XXIII as "the Pope of openness to the Holy
Spirit", and St. John Paul II as "the Pope of the Family",
recalling that "at the heart of this Sunday, which concludes the
Octave of Easter and which John Paul II wished to dedicate to Divine Mercy,
are the glorious wounds of the risen Jesus".
 "He had already shown those wounds when he first appeared to the
Apostles on the very evening of that day following the Sabbath, the day of
the resurrection", he continued. "But Thomas was not there that
evening, and when the others told him that they had seen the Lord, he
replied that unless he himself saw and touched those wounds, he would not
believe. A week later, Jesus appeared once more to the disciples gathered
in the Upper Room, and Thomas was present; Jesus turned to him and told him
to touch his wounds. Whereupon that man, so straightforward and accustomed
to testing everything personally, knelt before Jesus with the words: 'My
Lord and my God!'.
 "The wounds of Jesus are a scandal, a stumbling block for faith, yet
they are also the test of faith. That is why on the body of the risen
Christ the wounds never pass away: they remain, for those wounds are the
enduring sign of God's love for us. They are essential for believing in
God. Not for believing that God exists, but for believing that God is love,
mercy and faithfulness. Saint Peter, quoting Isaiah, writes to Christians:
'by his wounds you have been healed'.
 "John XXIII and John Paul II were not afraid to look upon the wounds
of Jesus, to touch his torn hands and his pierced side", exclaimed
Pope Francis. "They were not ashamed of the flesh of Christ, they were
not scandalised by him, by his cross; they did not despise the flesh of
their brother, because they saw Jesus in every person who suffers and
struggles. These were two men of courage, filled with the parrhesia of the
Holy Spirit, and they bore witness before the Church and the world to God's
goodness and mercy.
 "They were priests, bishops and popes of the twentieth century. They
lived through the tragic events of that century, but they were not
overwhelmed by them. For them, God was more powerful; faith was more
powerful - faith in Jesus Christ the Redeemer of man and the Lord of
history; the mercy of God, shown by those five wounds, was more powerful;
and more powerful too was the closeness of Mary our Mother.
 "In these two men, who looked upon the wounds of Christ and bore
witness to his mercy, there dwelt a living hope and an indescribable and
glorious joy. The hope and the joy which the risen Christ bestows on his
disciples, the hope and the joy which nothing and no one can take from
them. The hope and joy of Easter, forged in the crucible of self-denial,
self-emptying, utter identification with sinners, even to the point of
disgust at the bitterness of that chalice. Such were the hope and the joy
which these two holy popes had received as a gift from the risen Lord and
which they in turn bestowed in abundance upon the People of God, meriting
our eternal gratitude.
 "This hope and this joy were palpable in the earliest community of
believers, in Jerusalem, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles. It was a
community which lived the heart of the Gospel, love and mercy, in
simplicity and fraternity.
 "This is also the image of the Church which the Second Vatican
Council set before us. John XXIII and John Paul II cooperated with the Holy
Spirit in renewing and updating the Church in keeping with her pristine
features, those features which the saints have given her throughout the
centuries. Let us not forget that it is the saints who give direction and
growth to the Church. In convening the Council, John XXIII showed an
exquisite openness to the Holy Spirit. He let himself be led and he was for
the Church a pastor, a servant-leader. This was his great service to the
Church; he was the pope of openness to the Spirit.
 "In his own service to the People of God, John Paul II was the pope
of the family. He himself once said that he wanted to be remembered as the
pope of the family. I am particularly happy to point this out as we are in
the process of journeying with families towards the Synod on the family. It
is surely a journey which, from his place in heaven, he guides and
sustains".
 The Holy Father concluded. "May these two new saints and shepherds of
God's people intercede for the Church, so that during this two-year journey
toward the Synod she may be open to the Holy Spirit in pastoral service to
the family. May both of them teach us not to be scandalised by the wounds
of Christ and to enter ever more deeply into the mystery of divine mercy,
which always hopes and always forgives, because it always loves".
 St. Peter's Basilica will remain open today from 2 to 10 p.m., to enable
pilgrims to venerate the bodies of the two canonised Popes displayed in
glass cases, to which the word "Saint" has been added.

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 HONOUR THE MEMORY OF THE TWO SAINTS BY CONTINUING THEIR TEACHING
 Vatican City, 27 April 2014 (VIS) - Following the Mass celebrated in St.
Peter's Basilica for the canonisation of the two Blessed Pontiffs, John
XXIII and John Paul II, and before reciting the Regina Coeli, the Holy
Father greeted the faithful and pilgrims in St. Peter's Square and in the
adjacent streets. He thanked the cardinals, bishops, priests, official
delegations from the various countries, and the Italian authorities
"who have come to pay homage to the two Pontiffs who have made an
indelible contribution to the cause of the development of peoples and of
peace".
 The Pope affectionately greeted pilgrims from the dioceses of Bergamo and
Krakow, and encouraged them to honour the memory of the saints, continuing
with their teachings. Likewise, he thanked the diocese of Rome, Cardinal
Vallini, the municipal authorities, the mayor and the forces of order, as
well as the different organisations and volunteers "who with great
generosity have prepared these memorable days". He also thanked the
media for making it possible for so many people to participate, and
mentioned the elderly and the sick, commenting that the two new saints were
very close to them.
 Pope Francis then prayed to the Virgin Mary, "whom St. John XXIII and
St. John Paul II loved like true sons". After welcoming the official
delegations, and for the first time in a canonisation or beatification
ceremony, Pope Francis toured St. Peter's Square and Via della
Conciliazione in the Popemobile to bless and greet the pilgrims who
participated in this historic event.

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