14 DAY TRIAL // A sea of pilgrims invaded the streets of Vatican City on Sunday to witness the historic mass in which Pope Francis declared two of his predecessors, Popes John XXIII and John Paul II, saints of the Roman Catholic Church.
The two pontiffs were two major figures of the Roman Catholic Church, as they helped shape 20th-century history. John XXIII reigned from 1958 to 1963 and called the modernizing Second Vatican Council, while John Paul II reigned for nearly 27 years and played a leading role on the world stage.
“We declare and define that Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II be saints, and we enroll them among the saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole church,” Pope Francis said in the official proclamation.
He described the two popes as men of courage, who reformed the Catholic Church bringing it into modern times, while also preserving its original attributes and principles.
“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,” the Pope went on to say in his homily. “They were priests, bishops and popes of the 20th century. They lived through the tragic events of that century, but they were not overwhelmed by them.”
The Guardian informs us that the canonization of two popes at the same time is an unprecedented event in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. The holy mass was presided over by Pope Francis, in the presence of the retired Pope Benedict XVI, which is also the first time when a reigning pope and a retired one celebrate mass together.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from all over the world gathered in St. Peter's Square and the surrounding streets at the Vatican to witness the holy ceremony in which the two former leaders of the church were raised to sainthood.
Almost 100 foreign delegations, including the King and Queen of Spain, and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, representing the UK, were present at the ceremony, along with 150 cardinals and 700 bishops.
By the time the ceremony began, Via della Conciliazione, the main boulevard leading from the square, nearby streets and the bridges across the Tiber were packed with pilgrims. It was one of the biggest crowds since John Paul II's beatification in 2011.