John Paul II and John XXIII will be made saints, announced the Vatican

Friday, July 5th 2013 - 22:57 UTC

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The only Polish born pope passed the two confirmed miracles while the ‘good pope’ enacted sweeping reforms to modernize the Church

The late Pope John Paul II will be made a saint, the Vatican said on Friday, announcing that Pope Francis had approved a second miracle attributed to the Polish pontiff, who led the Roman Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005.

The Vatican said Pope John XXIII, who reigned from 1958 to 1963 and called the Second Vatican Council, which enacted sweeping reforms to modernise the Church - would also be made a saint.

No dates for the canonisation ceremonies were immediately given but the Vatican said they were expected by the end of the year.

John Paul had already been credited with asking God to cure French nun Marie Simon-Pierre Normand of Parkinson's disease, which helped lead to his beatification in 2011, when he was declared a “blessed” of the Church.

Two confirmed miracles are usually required under Vatican rules for the declaration of a saint.

The second miracle attributed to John Paul's intercession is the inexplicable curing of a woman from Costa Rica who prayed to him for help with her medical condition on the day of his beatification. Details of that miracle were due to be announced in Costa Rica.

In the case of Pope John XXIII, who was known as the “good pope”, Francis waved the customary rules which require a second miracle after beatification, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said. John XXIII was beatified in 2000.

Categories: Politics, Argentina, International, Latin America.

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Boovis
All investigations carried out by the Vatican, no neutral parties involved, a typical “transparent” process by the church. Where's Derren Brown and Richard Dawkins when you need them?
Jul 06th, 2013 - 04:43 am 0
Britworker
Confirmed miracles my arse, they are so out of touch with reality.
Jul 06th, 2013 - 12:30 pm 0
Elena
Well, given no other institution is in charge of investigating saints I think the “non transparency issue” is really beside the point. In reality the Vatican usses a lot of scientific evidence before talking about miracles properly from all types of sources, even internationally recognized institutions, most of these investigation take years.
As an admirer of John Paul II I am happy with those news :-)
Jul 08th, 2013 - 04:17 am 0

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