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Pope Francis, with retired pope, canonizes Sts. John and John Paul
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April 28, 2014By Francis X. Rocca
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY — Canonizing two recent popes in the presence of his immediate predecessor, Pope Francis praised the new Sts. John XXIII and John Paul II as men of courage and mercy, who responded to challenges of their time by modernizing the Catholic Church in fidelity to its ancient traditions.
"They were priests, bishops and popes of the 20th century," the pope said April 27, in his homily during Mass in St. Peter's Square. "They lived through the tragic events of that century, but they were not overwhelmed by them. For them, God was more powerful."
"John XXIII and John Paul cooperated with the Holy Spirit in renewing and updating the church in keeping with her original features, those features which the saints have given her throughout the centuries," he said.
Speaking before a crowd of half a million that included retired Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis praised St. John for his best-known accomplishment, calling the Second Vatican Council, which he said "showed an exquisite openness to the Holy Spirit."
"He let himself be led, and he was for the church a pastor, a servant-leader," the pope said of St. John. "This was his great service to the church. I like to think of him as the pope of openness to the Spirit."
Pope Francis characterized St. John Paul as the "pope of the family," a title he said the late pope himself had hoped to be remembered by. Pope Francis said he was sure St. John Paul was guiding the church on its path to two upcoming synods of bishops on the family, to be held at the Vatican this October and in October 2015.
The pope invoked the help of the two new papal saints for the synods' success, and he prayed, "May both of them teach us not to be scandalized by the wounds of Christ and to enter ever more deeply into the mystery of divine mercy, which always hopes and always forgives, because it always loves."
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