Pilgrims standing in front of a giant photo of Pope John Paul II at St. Peter's Square
VATICAN CITY (3rd
UPDATE) - The late Pope John Paul moved a major step closer to
Roman Catholic sainthood on Sunday at a joyous ceremony that drew the
largest crowd to Rome since his funeral six years ago.
"From
now on Pope John Paul shall be called 'blessed'", Pope Benedict solemnly
proclaimed in Latin, establishing that his predecessor's feast day would be
October 22, the day of the inauguration of John Paul's history-making
pontificate in 1978.
To
the cheers of hundreds of thousands of people, a tapestry showing a smiling
John Paul was unveiled seconds after Benedict, wearing resplendent white and
gold robes, read the solemn beatification proclamation.
St.
Peter's Square was jam packed and the crowd stretched as far back as the Tiber River,
more than half a kilometer away.
The
crowd of devotees, many carrying national flags and singing songs, had moved
towards the Vatican area from all directions
from before dawn to get a good spot for the Mass
Many
camped out during the night in the square, which was bedecked with posters and
photos of the late pope and posters of one of his most famous sayings "Do
not be afraid!"
Many
were from the late pope's native Poland. Dozens of red and white
Polish flags bobbed above the crowd and a cheer went up when a group of Poles
released a large banner reading "Thank You, God" held aloft by
balloons.
"We
were at the funeral and we just had to be here to see him beatified," said
Janusc Skibinski, 40, who drove 29 hours with his family from their home near
the border with Belarus.
A place of
honour was reserved for Sister Marie Simon-Pierre Normand, a French nun who
suffered from Parkinson's disease but whose inexplicable cure has been
attributed to John Paul's intercession with God to perform a miracle, thus
permitting the beatification to go ahead.
The Vatican will
have to attribute another miracle to John Paul's intercession after the
beatification in order for him to be declared a saint.
The pope was
beatified on the day the Church celebrates the movable Feast of Divine Mercy,
which this year happens to fall on May 1, the most important feast in the
communist world.
The
coincidence is ironic, given that many believe the pope played a key role in
the fall of communism in Eastern Europe.
Delegations from around the world
Some 90 official delegations from around
the world, including members of five European royal families and 16 heads of
state, will attend the beatification.
They included Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe, who has been widely criticised for human rights abuses in his country.
Mugabe is banned from travelling to the European Union, but the Vatican -- a
sovereign state -- is not a member of the bloc.
Pope John Paul's coffin was exhumed on
Friday from the crypts below St Peter's Basilica and will be placed in front of
the main altar. It will remain there and the basilica will remain open until
all visitors who want to view it have done so.
It will then be moved to a new crypt
under an altar in a side chapel near Michelangelo's statue of the Pieta. The
marble slab that covered his first burial place will be sent to Poland.
John Paul's beatification has set a new
speed record for modern times, taking place six years and one month after his
death on April 2, 2005.
While the overwhelming number of
Catholics welcome it, a minority are opposed, with some saying it happened too
fast.
Liberals in the church say John Paul was
too harsh with theological dissenters who wanted to help the poor, particularly
in Latin America. Some say John Paul should be
held ultimately responsible for the sexual abuse scandals because they occurred
or came to light when he was in charge.
Ultra-Conservatives
say he was too open towards other religions and that he allowed the liturgy to
be "infected" by local cultures, such as African dancing, on his
trips abroad. - with reports from Agence France-Presse
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