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Today's been pretty historical: For the first time in twenty centuries, two Popes have co-conducted a mass, and to canonize two other Popes simultaneously, no less!
In a tag-team of holy sacramental pontification in front of about a million attendees, Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI went on to proclaim the double-consecrated former popin' duet of Blessed Pope John XXIII and Blessed Pope John Paul II into sainthood.
For fellow Catholics worldwide, it's a great moment to rejoice, but also a great moment to think about what it means to be a Catholic and how these two men shaped the modern Church.
For non-Catholics, it's still a pretty cool occasion to witness, I would say!
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As a former Catholic, I'm pretty immune to all the Pope and circumstance.
When I was a wee slaadpole and first learning about Catholic saints from my Methodist dad, my initial idea of canonization was extremely weird but kinda cool. I pretty much lost all interest when Catholic mom clarified a minute later that they don't actually shoot the saints' skeletons out of a giant cannon in Rome toward Sicily. This is a true anecdote.
What a letdown.
That would be great.
Next fall tune in for the sacreligious sitcom of the century: My Two Popes.
Two and a Half Popes?
How I Met Your Pope?
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Everybody Loves Francis?
Perfect Popes?
Francis in Charge?
Fresh Pope of the Vatican?
The Adventures of Pope and Pope?
Two and a Half Popes?
Sounds like one of chapters from our Fading Suns campaign...
Oh, Bill, no worries, no worries!
This is the OTD; of course some kind-hearted humour is bound to take place! Besides, it's all well-intentioned.
And thank you for your words. I know it can seem rather trivial from the outside (it's not like we have a shortage of saints in the Church, to be honest), but it's a really powerful and deep moment for me and other who profess the Catholic faith. Sharing the same moment of joy with a billion human beings is something pretty strinking, I think.
I would think canonizing someone who walked the earth in living memory would be problematic for a number of reasons. Are they really saying John Paul performed miracles?
That said, I like the new pope...it's past time someone of wealth and power practiced what they (in this case literally) preach. Francis can totally couch-surf at my place any time he wants. :)
All popes get cannonized. If they don't they're not real popes.
Or something, church politics and history isn't my strong suit.
All it is required for someone to become a Pope is for the person to be male, baptised, and capable of willingly accept the title if chosen; the Pope is a bishop (the Bishop of Rome, more specifically, although his throne is not in Saint Peter's Basilica, but rather in Saint John Lateran's Archbasilica), so if a non-bishop gets elected, he needs to immediately be consecrated and ordained as one. In other words, any male Catholic is a potential candidate for the Papacy.
Canonization, however, is not required. Since one of the prerequisites for canonization is that the candidate is dead, it would be rather problematic if it was!
Canonization, however, is not required. Since one of the prerequisites for canonization is that the candidate is dead, it would be rather problematic if it was!
Again this reminds me of part of our Fading Suns campaign.
"One of the requirements of sainthood is being dead..."
"That can be arranged!"
All popes get cannonized. If they don't they're not real popes.
Or something, church politics and history isn't my strong suit.
I frown on the cannonization of anyone, even popes. ;-)
Smart-assery aside, it isn't that he's being canonized -- it's how quickly. When you're talking about someone with living contemporaries, the bar for "miracles" seems like it would be a LOT higher. People tend to be a lot more skeptical about things that have happened in their lifetimes.