Scottish Catholic Observer

Senior members of the Scottish hierarchy have echoed the Holy Father’s joy following the announcement that Pope John Paul II is to be Beatified on May 1.

Pope Benedict XVI said that everyone who knew or admired John Paul II shares his joy over the news that he will Beatify his predecessor on May 1 at a ceremony in St Peter’s Square, an event that is expected to bring two million pilgrims to Rome.

“On May 1, I’ll have the joy of proclaiming blessed the venerable John Paul II, my beloved predecessor,” Pope Benedict said. “All those who knew him, all those who esteemed and admired him, cannot help but rejoice with the Church for this event.”

Scottish joy

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, president of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, said he was one of many with a profound appreciation of Pope John Paul II.

“Pope John Paul II was a man known and loved throughout the world,” he said. “I think it is fair to say that he was deeply appreciated by the world’s bishops, so many of whom he had appointed.”

The cardinal added that his personal meetings with the late Pope had deepened his appreciation of His Holiness.

“These are bishops whom he loved and had high regard for and who were made especially welcome during ad limina visits not just for formal meetings but to both relax with him as a group, and at his table for a meal, and to join in the con-celebration of Mass at his private chapel. In this way he revealed something of his real humanity… leading us ever closer to Christ.”

He added that Pope John Paul II’s cause had been building since his death.

“I will never forget him appointing me as a cardinal of the Church and the privilege was mine as a cardinal in sharing in his funeral Mass and listening to the cries of the crowds in St Peter’s Square of santo subito (sainthood now),” the cardinal said.

Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow said he was also delighted at the announcement last Friday.

“Most of my time as a bishop was spent under the Pontificate of Pope John Paul II. I was hugely privileged to meet him on many occasions and was always struck by his deep devotion and wonderful humanity,” the archbishop said. “I am not alone in having described him as ‘John Paul the Great’ in the years following his death, and I am sure that conviction is shared by millions round the world. I look forward to the day when he will be numbered among that small group of Popes in history such as St Leo the Great and St Gregory the Great who have gone down in history with that title.”

Beatification

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints published the decree for the Beatification last Wednesday. The announcement of the Beatification came after Pope Benedict approved a decree attributing a miracle to Pope John Paul—who died in 2005 after a Papacy of almost 27 years.

Church officials have said the miracle attributed to the intercession of Pope John Paul with God concerned Sr Marie Simon-Pierre, a 48-year-old French nun diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, from which Pope John Paul himself suffered.

She said her illness inexplicably disappeared two months after his death after she and her fellow nuns prayed to him. Sr Marie added this week that the late Pope had given her ‘a new birth, a second birth.’

Church-appointed doctors agreed that there was no medical explanation for the curing of the nun.

Under normal Church rules a minimum five-year waiting period is observed following a candidate’s death before the procedure leading to sainthood can begin. A month after his death, however, Pope Benedict XVI began the cause for Pope John Paul II.

Another miracle—occurring after May 1 this year—will have to be recognised before John Paul II can be Canonised.

In Rome officials are already preparing for what is expected to be the largest gathering in the eternal city since the late Pope died in 2005. The pilgrimage from John Paul’s homeland of Poland is expected to be particularly large. Pope Benedict told the Polish people that he knows their joy is particularly profound at this time.

“This news was much awaited by everyone and in a particular way by Poles, because John Paul had been their guide in faith, in truth and in freedom,” he said.

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