Pope John Paul II

[whiteathlete33]

God Bless this man.

<h1 ="articleline">Pope John Paul II to Be Beatified May 1</h1>
<h6 ="byline">By RACHEL DONADIO</h6>
<h6 ="dateline">Published: January 14, 2011</h6>

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VATICAN CITY â€" Pope Benedict XVI moved his beloved predecessor one step closer to sainthood on Friday, confirming a miracle by John Paul II and setting May 1, the first Sunday after Easter, as the date of his beatification.


Sainthood would follow after the confirmation of one more miracle.


Thousands are expected to attend the beatification ceremony. Benedict is
expected to celebrate the Mass himself, a much-needed bright spot in
his papacy, which in recent months has been weathering a sex abuse
scandal in Europe and violence against Christians in the Middle East.



Wildly popular, John Paul was seen as a man of his time, a Pole who
marshaled the Catholic Church's energies to help end the cold war. But
he was also criticized for how he handled a sex abuse crisis that
burgeoned in the United States as early as the 1980s.


At John Paul's funeral in April 2005, the faithful filled Saint Peter's
Square crying "santo subito,"Â￾ or "sainthood now."Â￾ Benedict honored their
wishes, putting John Paul on a fast-track to sainthood, waiving the
traditional five-year waiting period for the process to begin, but
insisting on a thorough investigation into his life.


Benedict said in a decree on Friday that a French nun had been
miraculously cured from Parkinson's disease thanks to John Paul's
intercession. John Paul himself suffered from Parkinson's.


In a statement on Friday, Benedict said that a Vatican-appointed
committee of cardinals, bishops, doctors and theologians had determined
that the recovery of Sister Marie Pierre Simon from Parkinson's was
"miraculous"Â￾ and "scientifically inexplicable."Â￾


Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the archbishop of Krakow and John Paul's
longtime personal secretary, said he was thrilled at the news. He said
he was "happy"Â￾ that the wish for "santo subito, that people have been
praying for, is finally coming true."Â￾ John Paul's 26-year papacy was
filled with milestones. In 1979, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Krakow became
the first non-Italian to become pope in four centuries. He was the
first pope to visit a mosque and a synagogue. and on his watch the
church issued its first new Catechism in nearly 500 years. In 2000, he
asked pardon for the church's sins against Jews, women, heretics and
minorities.


His popularity grew after he survived an assassination attempt by a
Turkish gunman, Mehmet Ali Agca, in 1981, and in his later years, his
slow decline from Parkinson's disease was seen as a poignant example of
one man facing death without fear.


But some dark clouds still hang over his papacy. John Paul was
supportive of the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, a Mexican priest who
founded a wealthy and powerful religious order, the Legionaries of
Christ, who was found to have abused seminarians and fathered several
children.


During the height of the abuse scandal last spring, defenders of
Benedict said that when he was head of the Vatican's doctrinal and
disciplinary office, Benedict wanted to open an investigation into
Father Maciel, but that cardinals close to John Paul blocked him.



The Vatican reopened an investigation into the Legionaries of Christ in
2004, when John Paul was in serious decline. Last May, the Vatican
strongly condemned Father Maciel, who died in 2008, and placed the
Legion under Benedict's direct control.


Defenders of John Paul said he was dismissive of early reports of abuse
by priests because he considered it a tactic used by the Communist Party
in Eastern Europe to weaken the church. In 2001, John Paul made an
apology for sexual abuse by priests.


The news of the beatification was warmly received in his native Poland.


"I remember kneeling beside his open coffin in St. Peter's Basilica,"Â￾
said Kazimierz Nycz, the archbishop of Warsaw. "It never even crossed my
mind to pray for him. I've always prayed directly to him. I've always
known he is a saint."Â￾ <div ="authorIdentification">


Joanna Berendt contributed reporting from Warsaw.
</div>

 

[whiteathlete33]

I guess many of you don't care! Whatever!

 

[Colonel_Reb]

I'm not a Catholic, but I think the whole thing is pretty pathetic.

 

[whiteathlete33]

I'm not a Catholic, but I think the whole thing is pretty pathetic.

Why is that?

 

[Colonel_Reb]

I already said why, because I don't share Catholic beliefs about such things.

Edited by: Colonel_Reb

 

[Observer]

I'm not a Catholic, but I think the whole thing is pretty pathetic. 

Why is that?

I won't call it "pathetic", but there are many who do consider it "problematic".

The last generation has been a disaster throughout the western Catholic world, and most of this was under John Paul II's reign. This has no direct bearing on whether or not he is now with God in heaven. However, canonizing him does has the political effect of also enshrining the current corruptions, rather than condemning them. Yes, he was the foremost voice in the world during that time combating radical materialism, but the argument can also be made that the strength of the enemy is largely due to the Church having let it out of the cage since the mid-60's; and many things continued their downhill slide during John Paul II's pontificate.

I used to think that he did a heroic job considering the previous mess that Pope Paul VI's radicals had created for him, but somehow the old German pope that we have now has begun to turn the ship in only a few years and having started at a very disadvantageous position.

If a miracle has truly been worked at John Paul II's intervention, then this is a definitive sign that he lives with God in heaven. But how do we know this? Was a sufficient investigation made? In recent years they threw away the probing office of the "Devil's Advocate"; and this whole "fast track" is scandalous in that the judge and jurors are his hand-picked successors and disciples. The gears of these kinds of Church courts customarily works in not weeks or years, but in centuries. To me, it seems imprudent -- even a juridical conflict-of-interest -- not to wait until the smoke clears from the wreckage of the current generation.

I am sure that many good people are pushing for his canonization because they have been touched by his obvious public greatness, while a smaller number can vouch for his personal goodness. But I also think there is a big push for his canonization because in doing so, they can prop up the disastrous social experiment that began at Vatican Council II, which they see as beginning to lose strength and fade away; succumbing either to secularism, and now to the improbable resurrection of the ancient Latin Church and customs.

 

[j41181]

The Catholic church has been plagued with series of child rape and molestation scandals (many under John Paul II and his successor Benedict XVI) for years and years now. I'm not really pinning it on them since they have no control over those "crazy priests", just saying many of these scandals happened under their watch. Although such scandals have been happening way before 1978.

John Paul II was a well loved figure, because two great tragedies... WWII, and his assassination attempt. The way he forgave his assassin, should've or could've bridged the indifference between Christianity and Islam. Sadly, US (and Israeli) foreign policy ruined such potentials. All the same, he was a great ambassador for world peace. God Bless him and Rest in Peace.

 

[DixieDestroyer]

I don't want to cause a rift with my Catholic CF brethren, but as a fundementalist Baptist...I personally have theological issues w/ some of the man-made dogmas & trappings of the Catholic church. I could further expound, but I'll digress in the interest of civility (& not engaging in theological debate). That being said, I have NO issues with Catholics/pashioners. Everyone has the God given right to choose their religion, denomination or be a heathen (if they so wish).

 

[Westside]

Hey Dixie I am Catholic. I remember the election of 2008 when many Catholic priest and universities, like Notre Dame endorsed BO. I still have heartburn over that till this day.

I also have no beef with any fair minded Christians or Jews for that matter, such as Mark Levin for example.

 

[moose]

man made dogmas? like sola scriptura or sola fide? who started the baptist church? john smith, where is his name in the bible? Jesus Christ started the Catholic church.

 

[DixieDestroyer]

Moose,

Saint John the Baptist was the forerunner of the Baptist church & Jesus Christ began Christianity for the entire body of Christ...not just one denomination. As I stated above, I didn't wish to start a theological debate nor raise any hackles. I don't believe in some things that many Protestant churches do, & even have a few (minor) issues w/ the SBC. However, that's just one many's (half-cent) opinion.