Just days ahead of Pope John Paul II’s beatification on May 1st –the first time in 11 centuries that a successor beatifies his predecessor– the former vicar for Rome, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, speaks about the letter he received as the conclave was about to open that was to elect Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedixt XVI, by which several cardinals asked for John Paul’s beatification. Read the La Stampa story…
Tag: beatification
John Paul’s blood to be presented as a relic at May 1st Mass
Blood drawn from Pope John Paul II prior to his death and saved in case there was need of a transfusion at a local hospital, will be presented to Pope Benedict XVI at the May 1st Mass at which John Paul will be declared a “blessed.” The blood relic will be kept with other relics at the Apostolic Household. Read the entire story here.
What’s the difference between beatification and canonization?
Subtle
differences need certain light in a canonization process. Scholasticism
advocates that we always distinguish. Benedict XVI will be beatifying his
friend, colleague and boss, Pope John Paul II on May 1. So, the faithful are
asking what’s the difference between the ecclesial acts of beatification and
canonization?
The Holy See told us what’s considered to be the distinguishing
marks of any beatification. There are three differences:
- location of dioceses
that can hold annual public liturgical celebrations in the holy person’s honor; - who ceremonially requests the pope to act;
- and the level of papal authority
involved in the proclamation.
What Pope Benedict has worked hard to remind the
Church, “at a beatification ceremony, the bishop of the diocese where the
person dies asks that the candidate be declared blessed; at a canonization, the
prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes speaks in the name of the whole
church and asks that the candidate be declared a saint.”
But a central
difference between a beatification and canonization is that with a canonization
there is an act of declaring dogmatically, that God has revealed this person
with Him in beatitude. Essentially, it is a matter of papal infallibility.
Being a saint is a dogmatic statement; being a blessed is not. A saint can be
liturgically commemorated at the sacred Liturgy worldwide and remembered in
other circumstances like naming buildings after the person. When the Church
says a person is a blessed, it is an administrative act of the papal office; a
blessed can be liturgically commemorated is limited to certain circumstances,
like where the person lives or in the houses of the religious congregation
should the person be a religious.
John Paul II’s coffin to be viewed
The Holy See is allowing the coffin of Pope John Paul II to be viewed following the May 1st beatification ceremony which will be celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI.
After the viewing the papal body will repose in the Chapel of San Lorenzo in the Basilica of Saint Peter.
The video story is here.
The Vicariate of Rome website for Pope John Paul’s beatification ceremony
Beatification ceremonies for John Paul II are FREE
The Prefecture of the Papal Household, having been
informed of the existence of unauthorised offers by some Tour Operators,
especially on internet, of assistance in procuring tickets, with a service
charge, for General Audiences and Papal ceremonies, particularly for the
Beatification of the Servant of God John Paul II on Sunday, May 1, wishes to
make it clear that:
1) For the Beatification Mass of Pope John Paul II, as made
clear from the outset, no tickets are required.
clear from the outset, no tickets are required.
2) The tickets provided by the
Prefecture of the Papal Household for General Audiences and Papal ceremonies
are always issued FREE of charge and no person or organization can request any
kind of payment.
Prefecture of the Papal Household for General Audiences and Papal ceremonies
are always issued FREE of charge and no person or organization can request any
kind of payment.
Mass of Thanksgiving for the Beatification of Pope John Paul II set for St Catherine of Siena Church, NYC on May 1
The NY Community Communion and Liberation has been invited by Dominican Father Jordan Kelly to attend a Mass of Thanksgiving for the Beatification of Pope John Paul II which will be celebrated at The Church of Saint Catherine of Siena (411 East 68th Street, NYC) on Sunday, May 1, at 12 Noon. Father Jordan will be the main celebrant and homilest.
Monsignor Lorenzo Alabacete will be concelebrating and giving his personal recollections of Pope John Paul II and what the beatification means for us following the Mass.
If you already read the recent letter by Father Carrón, you would know that on the same day the entire Movement in Italy will be present for the beatification ceremony in Rome. If you have not read the letter yet, I strongly encourage you to do so. Father Carrón’s letter to the Movement can be read here
Please save the date for this moment of gratitude and unity.
John Paul II matters
In the hours before and after the Holy See’s announcement that the famous Pope John Paul II would be beatified on May1st, lists of reasons John Paul matters have shown up. Dan Gilgoff of the Belief Blog at CNN has a list that in my mind is too thin to get excited about. Numbers 1 and 9 on his list, for example, bear neither weight nor content. There’s Rome Reports’ review of John Paul’s astonishing record and how he changed history. John Allen’s analysis is worthy of our consideration because of the context Allen frames for us.
And there’s Carl Anderson’s remarks on the hope this beatification brings to us and yet Francis X. Rocca at the Religion News asks an interesting, provocative question about rushing the sainthood cause of John Paul.
The constellations of perspective is certainly interesting.
Benedict XVI to beatify John Paul II
Pope Benedict XVI announced today that the Venerable Servant of God Pope John Paul II will be beatified on May 1. The announcement …
Read the interview with the Prefect of the Congregation of Saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato….
A slide show of the Pope’s last visit to NYC.
Rite of Beatification of John Henry Newman
Many Catholics and Christians of good will are genuinely interested in the formula the Church uses to beatify someone, thus identifying a person a “blessed.” Notice who does/says what in the formula. The following is the rite (with a brief biography) used today by Pope Benedict XVI:
The Archbishop of Birmingham, the Most Reverend Bernard Longley requests that the Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman be beatified
The Vice-Postulator of the Cause for the Canonisation of Cardinal Newman reads a biography of the Venerable John Henry Cardinal Newman.
John Henry Newman was born in London in 1801. He was for over twenty years an Anglican clergyman and Fellow of Oriel College, Oxford. As a preacher, theologian and leader of the Oxford Movement, he was a prominent figure in the Church of England. His studies of the early Church drew him progressively towards full communion with the Catholic Church. With his companions he withdrew to a life of study and prayer at Littlemore outside Oxford where in 1845 Blessed Dominic Barberi, a Passionist priest, received him into the Catholic Church.
In1847, he was himself ordained priest in Rome and, encouraged by Blessed Pope Pius IX, went on to found the Oratory of St Philip Neri in England. He was a prolific and
influential writer on a variety of subjects, including the development of Christian
doctrine, faith and reason, the true nature of conscience, and university education. In 1879 he was created Cardinal by Pope Leo XIII. Praised for his humility, his life of prayer, his unstinting care of souls and contributions to the intellectual life of the Church, he died in the Birmingham Oratory which he had founded on 11 August 1890.
influential writer on a variety of subjects, including the development of Christian
doctrine, faith and reason, the true nature of conscience, and university education. In 1879 he was created Cardinal by Pope Leo XIII. Praised for his humility, his life of prayer, his unstinting care of souls and contributions to the intellectual life of the Church, he died in the Birmingham Oratory which he had founded on 11 August 1890.
Declaration of Beatification
Pope Benedict XVI:
Acceding to the request of our Brother Bernard Longley, Archbishop of Birmingham, with the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, by our apostolic authority we declare that the venerable Servant of God John Henry, Cardinal, Newman, priest of the Congregation of the Oratory, shall henceforth be invoked as Blessed and that his feast shall be celebrated every year of the ninth of October, in the places and according to the norms established by Church law.
In the name oft he Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Acclamation at the Beatification
Praise to the Holiest in the height, and in the depth be praised: in all his words most wonderful, most sure in all his ways. (Cardinal John Henry Newman)
The Archbishop of Birmingham thanks the Holy Father:
Most Holy Father, I, the Ordinary of Birmingham, give heartfelt thanks to your Holiness for having today proclaimed Blessed Henry Newman.
+The Archbishop and the Postulator of the cause of Blessed John Henry Newman receive the kiss of peace from the Holy Father. Procession of reliquary including members of the Newman family and the Oratorians, to greet the Holy Father.
A Reflection on Cardinal Newman’s Beatification
A remarkable event in the Church will happen in less than a week’s time: the beatification of the Venerable Servant of God Cardinal John Henry Newman, easily the best known cardinal and thinker we have.
Father Thomas Rosica, CSB, head of Canada’s Salt and Light Television invests us with an excellent sense of who John Henry Cardinal Newman was as a person and as a priest in a video presentation. Watch Father Rosica’s fine introduction to Newman or read the transcript here.
In the days before the Cardinal’s beatification on September 19th, perhaps we can get to know the value of friendship with Christ and with others through the life and work.