Tag: Saint John Paul II

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.

Communion & Liberation welcomes the beatification of John Paul

Don Julián Carrón.jpgFather Julián Carrón, President of the ecclesial
movement Communion and Liberation indicated the Movement’s plans to participate
in the beatification of Pope John Paul II on May 1. Father Carrón’s remarks showed gratitude for the Pontiff’s
legacy.


According to Father Carrón the Movement plans to “make the pilgrimage to Rome to join the Pope and
the Church in thanking God who has given us such an authentic witness of
Christ.” Father Carrón says that “We want to gather closely around
Benedict XVI, who in his farsightedness has decided to indicate Blessed John
Paul II to the whole world as an example of what Christ can make of a man who
allows himself to be grasped by him.”

Speaking for the heart and soul of
Communion and Liberation Father Carrón said, “If someone has an enormous debt
of gratitude towards John Paul II, we are the ones.”

I invite you to read the full text of Father Julián Carrón’s letter to the Fraternity of Communion and Liberation: Fr Carron on the beatification of Pope John Paul II.pdf

John Paul II moves Blessed Pope Innocent XI to another resting place

Innocent XI.jpgWorkers at Saint Peter’s Basilica have begun their work to move the body of the soon to be beatified Pope John Paul II from the grottoes to the main basilica. He’ll be moved to the Chapel of Saint Sebastian where currently Blessed Pope Innocent XI (seen left) is resting (he was beatified by Pope Pius XII on 7 Oct 1956). I guess we’re tired of the silver faced Innocent of the 17th century in favor of John Paul II, Pontiff.

John Paul will, in fact, be among a number of other holy people to take up residence in this spot. Apparently in this area, Pope Saint Boniface IV was there as well as the relics of the martyrs: Saints Victor, Candidus and Laureatus, but they have since moved on.

The Chapel of Saint Sebastian, on the right side of the basilica as you walk in, and right before the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, is dedicated to the 3rd century martyr. Sebastian was murdered at the time of the Diocletian for confessing faith in Jesus Christ as  Savior. Sebastian was first shot through with arrows, nursed to health and then later beaten to death. The chapel was completed by Pier Paolo Cristofari based on a design of Domenico Zampieri.
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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.

Cardinals, bishops affirm miracle’s medical findings attributed to John Paul II

JP II wearing pilgrims cape.jpgAnother door to Pope John Paul’s beatification happened yesterday in Rome. The cardinals and bishops who are members of the Congregation of Saints have affirmed the veracity of the medical investigations of a miracle of attributed to the Venerable Servant of God Pope John Paul II, and the theological report on the same. Andrea Tornielli writes about the news.

Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, who suffered the effects of Parkinson’s Disease, makes the claim of healing through the intercession of John Paul who also suffered from the same.
Speculation is that Benedict will assign the liturgical memorial for John Paul to a date in October so that his April 2nd date of death and liturgical observance doesn’t conflict with Holy Week. Often the date of death is the feast day though not exclusively as we know of the recent case of Blessed John Henry Newman.

Miracle attributed to Pope John Paul II expected to be approved

Sister Marie Simon-Pierre.jpgThe reports of an approved miracle are surfacing as moving more and more toward a confirmation by the cardinals and bishops of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints before the dossier is  given to Pope Benedict for his approval. Theologians, physicians and other professionals have been studying a case of French Sister Marie Simon-Pierre who lived with the effects of Parkinson’s Disease until June 2005.

Sister Marie Simon-Pierre said she was healed of the disease following her prayers to the Venerable Servant of God Pope John Paul II asking him to intercede for her for the gift of God’s healing from Parkinson’s. She described her healing as a second birth with the renewed use of her arms and legs. Word about the miracle’s approval ought to be coming very soon with a possible beatification of John Paul later in 2011.

John Paul II and the Development of a “New Feminism”

Sr Sara Butler.jpgThe April 2010 issue of Inside the Vatican (18:4) published a special commemorative issue observing the papal death of John Paul II and the papal election of Benedict XVI. The editor asked various people to write their memories of one of the popes. Sister Sara Butler, MSBT, a professor of dogmatic theology at St Joseph’s Seminary -Dunwoodie, New York, offered her thoughts on Pope John Paul’s contribution to feminist thinking. Sister Sara is a published author and a member of the Anglican-Roman Catholic Dialogue and the International Theological Commission. Sister remembers:

Looking back over the papacy of the Servant of God John Paul II, I find myself especially grateful for the initiative he took in addressing the feminist critique. The Pope did this in his Letter to Women (1995), his apostolic letter On the Dignity and Vocation of Women (Mulieris dignitatem, 1988), and his ground-breaking catecheses on the “theology of the body.” He not only acknowledged the positive contributions of feminist scholarship and offered needed clarifications and correctives in response to their objections; he also spelled out his own appreciation of the “genius” of women and took steps to promote their increased participation in the Church and in the social order. Since the Pope’s death, we are already beginning to see the fruits of his recommendation that Catholic women undertake to develop a “new feminism,” consistent with Catholic doctrine (Evangelium vitae, par 99). In my opinion , it is hard to overestimate the contribution Pope John Paul II made to meeting this contemporary challenge.

John Paul was prepared to resign papacy, focused on his spiritual life

Slawomir Oder.jpgThe postulator (main promoter/researcher) of the cause of canonization of the Servant of God Pope John Paul II, Msgr. Slawomir Oder, published the full text of John Paul II’s resignation letter in his recent book, Why He Is Holy (only in Italian at the moment).

There are other interesting points in the book which you can read about at the CNS site.
Watch the video clip talking about the possibility of an unprecedented papal resignation.