Pope Francis Canonization of Two Popes Promises to be Epic

[ucrdem]

Source: NBC News

Pope Francis Canonization of Two Popes Promises to be Epic
BY CLARE DUFFY
ROME, Italy -- This Sunday the Catholic Church will elevate two popes to sainthood in a historic canonization ceremony in Vatican Square.

In Catholic circles, it is the main event of 2014, and at this point, it might be easier to make your own case for sainthood than to procure a spot in the VIP section. A Vatican official told NBC News this morning that a Polish nun in his office has been bringing him tea every day; what he thought was a kind gesture turned out to be an effort to soften him up before trying to get a ticket for her Mother Superior, he said.

"Let's play two!" NBC News Vatican analyst George Weigel said, quoting the indefatigable Ernie Banks (especially appropriate given the anniversary of Wrigley Field).

It promises to be an epic event -- from a place that does "epic" particularly well.

Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/pope-francis-canonization-two-popes-promises-be-epic-n90156

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Sunday is gonna be a big day in Rome ..

[ucrdem]

1. Giant crucifix dedicated to pope crushes pilgrim

uh-oh:
......................

A curved wooden cross which bore a 20-foot, 1,300-pound statue of Christ collapsed in Cevo, Italy, on April 24, killing a 21-year-old man.

Rob Quinn, Newser 10:52 a.m. EDT April 25, 2014

Tragedy struck just days before the canonization of Pope John Paul II when a giant crucifix dedicated to the late pontiff crushed an unfortunate pilgrim in northern Italy.

The victim, 21-year-old Marco Gusmini, was posing for photographs with other members of a group of young Catholics in front of the 100-foot wooden cross when it suddenly collapsed Thursday, the Telegraph reports.

The local mayor calls the collapse of the cross, which bore a 20-foot, 1,300-pound statue of Christ, an "unexplainable tragedy."

"When they heard the crunching noises coming from the cross they fled in all directions," the mayor says. "Unfortunately Marco ran in the wrong direction."

In a strange twist, the young man lived on a street named after Pope John XXIII, who will also be canonized on Sunday in a ceremony expected to bring 800,000 pilgrims to Rome, the Daily Mail reports.


http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/04/25/newser-giant-crucifix-crushes-pilgrim/8143467/
..............

[defacto7]

4. Oh the Irony...

I can think of quite a few remarks but not in LBN.

[AtheistCrusader]

5. "unexplainable tragedy."

What? No 'act of god'?

I am disappointed

[jberryhill]

2. It's quite a remarkable sight....

[ucrdem]

3. Warning: don't try this at home.

Also, works better if you're already dead.

[Submariner]

7. A Two-fer

[Arugula Latte]

12. Maybe they can shoot a nun out, too and make "The Flying Nun" a reality.

Yes, I'm getting old, as my cultural references show.

[ucrdem]

24. I just close my eyes . . .

Last edited Sun Apr 27, 2014, 10:09 AM - Edit history (1)

hey we all saw it, it was on forever

[defacto7]

6. My friend from Rome

is not happy with the event. He's a strong Catholic but he told me these events are not good for the city. The larger the crowd for papal events the more it costs the city. He said most papal visits around the world have bankrupted individual dioceses and in Rome, the city carries the burden not the Vatican. Food is scarce and the visitors don't spend.

[Hulk]

8. Just left Rome and the Vatican

The place is a zoo. Pilgrims from all over the world are pouring into Rome...the Polish Catholics in particular. It is a big deal, and whether or not you buy into the "sainthood myth", these were two great men to the Catholic faith. Glad we missed it. Just sorry I was the victim of a pickpocket on the way out of town...<sigh>

[merrily]

9. "The Good Pope" on the fast track

(much like TPP) despite how he and his Vatican handled molestation by clergy and elevated Cardinal Law.

I know it happened everywhere, and maybe for centuries, but, in Massachusetts, it was big news daily in papers (remember them?) and on TV for a long time. There were a good number of press conferences in which a group of victims participated. I still remember some of their faces, especially a kid of about 21 or 22 with dirty blond hair who committed suicide very soon after the lawsuits settled and his services were no longer needed for the cause.

Victims were sworn to silence, either as part of paltry settlement agreements, or as part of their duty to the Church and God. Violators transferred into different parishes after people in the original parishes started talking. The talkers moved on with their new priest. The violator got a fresh and unsuspecting set of victims and parents. All to try to protect the reputation of the Church, regardless of human cost.

The litigations finally helped break (I hope) the code of silence (and silencing victims) and the pattern. Still, cartoons were seen on a door in the Fall River Church, where a lot of the victims had worshipped, mocking the victims as lying crybabies. That hit the news, too.

Cardinal Law, once buzzed about as possibly the first American Pope while all this was going on out of the public eye, oversaw all that out for the Pope and his Vatican. Was the papacy to be his reward? Maybe that was the plan, but, once the stories began coming out, that was not to be. However after the lawsuit ended, Cardinal Law was elevated to a post in the Vatican.

In other areas where there were lawsuits, the Catholic Church transferred property and money so that it would not have to pay the victims. I have to believe this was cleared through Rome.

And, we probably don't know the half of it and never will.

And what happens when that Prince goes to his final reward, as some refer to it? Very, very fast track to sainthood.

Meanwhile, his first lieutenant in these matters became Pope Bennie (now Pope Emeritus, or some such).

All fairly lofty rewards, as the Catholic Church goes.

Epic.

[Hoppy]

10. As per Carlin,

Nothing wrong here. They just misinterpreted, "Suffer the little children."

[Bluenorthwest]

11. Letter from young Ugandan man in hiding, regarding the Bishop's call for genocide

“The Bishop of Jinja Diocese – Bishop Rt. Rev. Fr. Charles Wamika, in today’s Easter Message delivered at St. Chalres Lwanga Catholic Church, praised the Members of Parliament for taking a stand to see to it that the Anti-homosexuality bill passed into law, he went ahead and called on the faithful to vote for President Museveni in 2016 general elections for signing the bill into law.

He reminded the Christians that, it has been a law and he sent blessings to all Christians who have been working so hard to make Jinja a land free of gay persons. He said throughout human history the catholic church has fought evil and blood has been shed, he called on all the Christians to do whatever they can in their own means to clean this city.

I am surprised that a well educated bishop, well traveled and studied in different western countries uses his position to justify killing. He asked parents with gay suspected children to handle them over to authorities and their reward is in heaven. This is too much hatred. I wonder if we will hear from the Pope on this. If not, I lose all hope.”
http://oblogdeeoblogda.me/2014/04/20/ugandan-catholic-easter-message-calls-for-genocide-of-gays/

Francis has not said a word to object to the pogrom laws nor to his Bishops' vicious rhetoric. The ego of this lot of people to claim they can create Saints while they are in fact hunting down minority members in the streets should be offensive to any thinking person.
Uganda is 42% Catholic, they are the largest and most powerful religious group in Uganda. This OP is like a story in praise of Scott Lively or Pat Robertson, not a bit different from that.

[840high]

13. Big day for me.

[diabeticman]

14. My wife's words : "Amazing the all boy club can't wait to honor there own and yet Mother Theresa is

still not canonized yet."


She was raised catholic so I don't fully understand the Blessed thing and canonizing. But she felt Mother Theresa works deserved her canonization either before or at the same time as John Paul II

[hue]

20. Your Wife relates to the erroneous image of M. Teresa not the real person.

http://filipinofreethinkers.org/2011/12/31/mother-teresa-blessed-billionaire-holy-hypocrite/

Instead of curing them, Mother Teresa gave the bare minimum of treatment, resulting in suffering for most and death for some. She gave insufficient or outdated medicine, reused old syringes, and gave cold baths to all patients, even those who could find comfort in a warm one. She’d refuse to install elevators for the disabled, even when the city government offered to pay for it. Instead of hiring competent doctors, she’d rely on incompetent volunteers because she believed strongly that ignorance was more valuable than expertise (Livemore 93, 156).

Instead of being true hospitals or hospices, the establishments run by Mother Teresa were more like prisons at best: The patients, if they were well enough to escape, probably would. At worst, they were torture chambers. She’d refuse to give painkillers even to dying patients who were suffering unbearable pain. Instead of using painkillers, she’d comfort patients by saying, “You are suffering, that means Jesus is kissing you.” One poor patient replied, “Then tell your Jesus to stop kissing me.”
Holy Hypocrite

What makes all this worse is the fact that Mother Teresa had the resources to make things better. Estimates of donations reach the millions — even billions — of dollars. Unfortunately, we can never be sure. In the same way that Mother Teresa’s atrocities remain a secret, Missionaries of Charity remains the only charitable organization in India that refuses to reveal how much money they have and how they spend it:

[diabeticman]

21. My wife read your post. She wished she knew this stuff before. Thank you for the information.

[hue]

15. This is SICK!! Catholic Church showing it's true god forsaken colours!!

[muriel_volestrangler]

16. Holy Moolah: John Paul II Canonization Sponsored by Banks, Oil Giant

ROME -- He has railed against the “tyranny” of global capitalism and the “idolatry of money” but even Pope Francis needs a little corporate coin sometimes – as proven by the list of sponsors for Sunday’s canonizations.

An oil and gas giant, several banks and Switzerland-based food megacorp Nestle are among more than a dozen financial backers of the Rome event.
...
The list of sponsors is dominated by Italian corporations, including energy firms Eni and Enel, banking company Intesa SanPaolo and railway network Ferrovie Italiane.

http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/new-saints/holy-moolah-john-paul-ii-canonization-sponsored-banks-oil-giant-n88811

[ucrdem]

19. Call it prudent retirement planning.

Bankers are good at that.

[ucrdem]

17. Festive mood in Rome as pilgrims gather for canonisations

Pilgrims gather in Rome this evening ahead of ceremonies tomorrow to mark the canonisation of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II.

Sat, Apr 26, 2014, 18:07

The mood was festive in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican today as thousands of people from around the world began to gather for tomorrow morning’s canonisation of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II.

There are very many Polish here but also large contingents from South America, particularly from Brazil and Argentina. And this reporter spotted one Irish tricolour but on investigation it was discovered that the owner “had gone for a walk.”

Groups of young people lay out in the sun, many on mats on which they planned to sleep overnight in order to hold their spot in the Square for tomorrow’s events.

Earlier, it was confirmed that retired Pope Benedict XVI will attend the ceremonies, where he will sit with the cardinals and bishops to the left of the sanctuary.

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/festive-mood-in-rome-as-pilgrims-gather-for-canonisations-1.1775402

[hsueh-li]

18. I like this pope. nt

[ucrdem]

22. Welcome hsueh-li

Hope you like DU!

[Dawson Leery]

23. -1

[ucrdem]

25. Live stream here:

http://2popesaints.org/IT/Media

At them moment they're playing an Italian video with a Godfather violin score but it's 8 am in Roma so I imagine the live festivities will be starting soon. . .

p.s. the service starts at 10:00 in Rome so that's just under 2 hours from now.

ETA: Watch live via YouTube via LA Times:

As many as 1 million pilgrims and other visitors are expected at the Vatican on Sunday for the canonization of two of the most influential popes of the 20th Century, John Paul II and John XXIII.

Pope Francis will be assisted during the sainthood ceremony by retired Pope Benedict XVI, the first time two living pontiffs will help canonize a pair of their predecessors.

Giant screens have been erected in piazzas throughout the city for those unable to get into St. Peter’s Square for the Mass, which is expected to begin at 10 a.m. local time (1 a.m. PST) and last about two hours.

John XXIII, who is said to be a favorite of Francis, was born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli to a poor rural family in Italy. Although he served as pontiff less than five years, from 1958 until his death in 1963, he is credited with modernizing the Roman Catholic Church.

He convened the historic Second Vatican Council, which instituted such reforms as Masses in the vernacular instead of Latin.

more: http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-watch-live-popes-canonization-20140426,0,1474003.story#ixzz304FsQltg