Pope Francis announced on Monday, 30th of September the schedule for the canonization of the two popes, Pope John Paul II and John XXIII on April 27, 2014 during the meeting of the Cardinals known as consistory.
The two popes are known as modern-day Catholicism’s most influential figures.
John Allen, who is from the National Catholic Reporter said, “John XXIII is generally a hero to the church’s progressive wing while John Paul II is typically lionized by Catholic conservatives.”
According to Allen, the pronouncement could be inferred as “a statement that any attempt to set them at odds is artificial, and that what they had in common is more fundamental than any perceived differences”.
Sainthood requires two “confirmed miracles”, though Pope Francis approved the Canonization of John XXIII with just one, and this was the reported miraculous healing of an Italian nun who had severe internal hemorrhage when he was beatified in 2000.
Tagged as “The Good Pope”, John XXIII championed his name by calling the historic Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) which refurbished the Church’s rituals and doctrines, extended out to other faiths and elevated the status of lay people. John XXIII who died in 1963, has been compared to Pope Francis for their similar pastoral attitudes, humble, open manner and sense of humor.
Pope Francis allegedly waived the necessity for a second miracle because John XXIII’s canonization had been called for by the members of the Second Vatican Council in 1965, who craved to pay respects to the man who paved the way to the Church into modern times.
On the other hand, John Paul II, who served as pope from 1978-2005, attributed a first miracle to his name just six months after his death, after a French nun said she had been cured, through prayer, of Parkinson’s – a disease the pope himself suffered from.
Another miracle was recorded with a woman from Costa Rica, who said she was healed from a serious brain condition after praying to John Paul for intervention on the same day he was beatified in year 2011.
On Tuesday, October 1st, Pope Francis will begin a 3- day talk with an advisory board of eight cardinals he has selected to aid him clean up the troubled Roman Curia – the intrigue-filled administration – and improve communications between the Vatican and local churches.
The canonization aims to unite Catholic conservatives and liberals, and is expected that Rome will be flocked with thousands of pilgrims from around the world.