A Beautiful Honor For A Beautiful Soul

Pope John Paul II, likely World History’s most revered of Pontificates, was Beatified by Pope Benedict XVI today in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City today before a crowd of nearly 2 Million.

The Catholic Church declared Pope John Paul II “Blessed” which sets him at one level below Sainthood.  He was given immediate approval to Beatification by Pope Benedict when the crowd at John Paul’s funeral chanted “Santo Subito“, which is Italian for “Saint Immediately“.

The Catholic Church needed a miracle to beatify him when in 2006, Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, a French nun, confined to bed by Parkinson’s Disease, claimed she had ‘complete and lasting cure after members of her community prayed for the intercession of Pope John Paul II.  A second miracle is needed in order to declare Pope John Paul II a Saint.

Vials of Pope John Paul II’s blood were also on display during the beatification ceremony.  The blood was taken from him during his final stages of illness in case he needed a blood transfusion.  The vials were used as a relic for the Mass for his beatifcation.

While I find Pope John Paul II’s Beatification process as a great honor… I would honestly have to say that vials of blood seems very Non-Catholic Church to me.

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