Tribunal hears case for John Paul II’s beatification (priests, testimonies)

[Scott1]

Tribunal hears case for John Paul II’s beatification

A CHURCH TRIBUNAL considering the beatification of Pope John Paul II has opened at his former Krakow Archdiocese in Poland, four months after the formal process was launched in Rome. Members of the Rogatory Tribunal, headed by Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek, a former Polish Bishops’ Conference secretary-general, were sworn in at a ceremony on Friday last week in the southern city’s Wawel Cathedral. They will gather evidence from witnesses on the pope’s life prior to his 1978 election.

Speaking at the ceremony, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow said the then Karol Wojtyla had “spent his whole life, from childhood to his last period, on his knees before the majesty of God and majesty of humanity”, and recalled his defence of religious rights under Communist rule. He added that the late pope’s beatification process signalled “the opening of one of the most important chapters in the history of the local and universal Church”, as well as the history of Poland.

“In everyone he saw an image of God, and this view shaped his attitude to human beings,” said the 66-year-old archbishop, who spent 39 years as chaplain and private secretary to the pope until his death in April. “As a Krakow bishop, he received everyone who wished to meet him; priests and laity, simple people and intellectuals. He also listened to everyone with patience and care, never giving the impression of having more important things to do. I had the good fortune to be with him for nearly four decades and I can testify that he never harmed anyone, but respected every opinion.”

The Krakow tribunal follows the launch on 28 June of a formal process for the beatification of John Paul II, less than three months after his death, by Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the vicar-general of Rome. In an interview last month with the Italian daily newspaper Avvenire, Archbishop Dziwisz said he personally knew of “many miraculous healings” at John Paul II’s intercession. He added that he believed the pontiff’s be-atification awaited “only official confirmation” by his successor, and would take place during Benedict XVI’s planned June 2006 visit to Poland. However, this has been questioned by other church leaders, including the Polish primate, Cardinal Jozef Glemp, who cautioned last week that rigorous procedures must be followed.

John Paul II was born at Wadowice on 18 May 1920, and died in the Vatican on 2 April after a 26-year pontificate. In a May pastoral letter, Poland’s Catholic bishops appealed for “deep, thoughful acts of commemoration” for the pontiff, whose death was marked by at least four million citizens, 12 per cent of the population, in vigils and marches. The country’s first “John Paul II Day”, declared by the Polish parliament this summer, was marked on 16 October by a Mass for the late Pope’s beatification, attended by government and state leaders at Krakow’s Divine Mercy basilica.

Meanwhile, the tribunal chairman, Bishop Pieronek, told Poland’s Catholic information agency KAI that he expected the work to be limited to “a few months only … We’re talking about a life which was very harmonious and consciously devoted from its first years to God. It’s an exceptional case, especially since Benedict XVI has dispensed with the five-year period from the death of a beatification candidate to the start of their process. This has already speeded it up by at least five years.”

The tribunal, with nine male Polish clergy members, will prepare testimonies and docu- ments for sending to the process in Rome, which is also being run by a Polish postulator, Fr Stanislaw Oder. The Krakow ceremony was attended by two cardinals based in the city, Franciszek Macharski and Stanislaw Nagy, as well as Cardinal Marian Jaworski of Lviv, a former close friend of John Paul II. KAI said all future sessions would be conducted in secret, although a final ceremony would be open to the public.
Jonathan Luxmoore, Warsaw


www.thetablet.co.uk

[vatican]

I think that Pope John Paul II was a great man for all. They released a site to be updated daily on the news program: pope-johnpaul.com

[Jordan St. Francis]

I don't understand this need to have everything "official" in terms of Sainthood. Let the Church catholic acclaim his sainthood by its practice and prayers. Sometimes it feels like we are seeing an exercise in political maneuvering. Like, for example, if we think John Henry Newman has something valuable to say to the modern world- voila- beatification, now we have more of a reason to listen to him or something. Now, I like blessed JHN, don't get me wrong, but is this really how sainthood should be approached? It's the triumph of bureaucracy and authority over tradition- a long standing Roman problem.

Secondly, given what unfolded under JP II in terms of the sex abuse scandal, should this really be moving so fast?