Pope John Paul II Beatification Ceremony
Pope John Paul II Beatification Ceremony
Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City, Rome
Sunday, 1 May 2011
The late Pope John Paul II, considered as one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century, was placed one step closer to canonization and full sainthood on Sunday, May 1, 2011 as his successor Pope Benedict XVI presided the formal beatification ceremony at Saint Peter's Square in Vatican City.
Born Karol Józef Wojtyła in the Polish town of Wadowice, John Paul became pope on October 16, 1978 - the first non-Italian pope in more than four centuries and the first from eastern Europe. He reigned as pope of the Roman Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City for almost 27 years until his death on April 2, 2005 at the age of 84 after years of battling with Parkinson's disease.
After the beatification ceremony, pilgrims venerated the pope's coffin at the Altar of Confession in Saint Peter’s Basilica, along with the relic that contains a vial of his blood which was taken shortly before his death. On Monday evening, the coffin will be transferred to its new resting place in Pier Paolo Cristofari's Chapel of Saint Sebastian, near the entrance of the basilica and just next to Michelangelo's statue of the Pieta.
As proclaimed by Benedict XVI, Pope John Paul II shall now be called Blessed John Paul II.
