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   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    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.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    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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