27/4/2014
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.
27/4/2014
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.