The Post Haven: Blessed Pope John Paul II

Today May 1, 2011 is the beatification of the late Pope John Paul II. born KarolJozef Wojtyla. He was born on May 18, 1920 and died on April 2, 2005. He was reigned as the Pope of the catholic church and sovereign of the The Holy See for 27 years which start on October 16, 1978 until in his death on April 2, 2005. He died at 84 and for the record he was the second-longest documented pontificate, the first one is Pius IX who reign for 31 years and 7 months (1846 - 1878). Karol was ordained to the priesthood on All Sains Day, November 1, 1946 by archbishop Cardinal Sapieha.of Krakow, which is the second largest and the oldest cities in Poland In 1948 after he study theology in Rome wherein he earned his licentiate and doctorate in sacred theology. he went back to Poland and was assigned in the village of Niegowić. On July 4 of 1958 and at the age of 38 he was appointed by the late Pope Pius XII to the position of Auxiliary bishop of Krakow, he was consider as the youngest to ever became a bishop in Poland and on 1978, Karol Józef Wojtyła a compromise candidate won the election of Papacy for eighth ballot on the second day which according to the Italian press, 99 votes from the 111 participating electors. He chooses the name John Paul II in honor of his immediate predecessor Pope John Paul I, who at 65 was reign pope and was considered young by papal standards,However John Paul I died after only 33 days as Pope. At 58 Karol Józef Wojtyła known as John Paul II accepted his election with these words: ‘With obedience in faith to Christ, my Lord, and with trust in the Mother of Christ and the Church, in spite of great difficulties, I accept. Pope John Paul II become the 264th Pope according to the chronological list of popes and the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years.

Today after 6 years and 28 days from death Pope John Paul II will be beatified and will be called "Blessed Pope John Paul II".

Beatification is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of the dead person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in his or her name or what we called the intercession of saints. It is the third steps in the canonization which is an act by which Christianity declare a deceased person to be a Saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon or list of recognize saints. A person that was beatified is given the tile "Blessed"
The process normally start on the first stage which is the collection of documents and facts to be verify in order to check the sanctity of the individual, It was called the "Diocesan Phase" and these documents are being send to Vatican Congregation for the causes of Saints. The Second stage begins at the Vatican, Historian, and Theologians that will be working together to reconstruct the person biography exactly, including their spirituality and sign of heroism. After studying all the documents, a process that can take years and years and that is one must present a Miracle. In the case of the Canonization, the miracle must have occurred after the person has been beatified. if there were story and evidence of the allege miracle, this will be sent to medical committee that will consist of 60 experts in various field of study and specialization of medicine and these group of people will then give a scientific explanation in the light of modern medicine. Once the miracle has been be proved, theologians must check that the miracle has been achieved through the aid of the candidate to the altars and no other Saints.

Truly, beatification is a very long and complicated matter to discuss both to the experts and to us, as there will be a lot of things that we have to talk and consider, but to put it simply, Beatification process is one person to be one step closer to Canonization, to which the saint hood of one person begin and the Catholic Church's highest honor . Many other people nowadays made harsh comments which I happened to read in some websites. This people are somehow express their dislike about the beatification of the late Pope, They have a lot of arguments, an arguments that can make or break the name of our beloved Pope and I think it was unfair as the dead can no longer prove and defend himself though the late Pope has nothing to prove about his Holiness, and that is what many of his faithful think, One can argue that a person or group of people cannot declare any person that is dead a Saint because they are both a human, this and all other long list of of comments who stand in their arguments.

As for me, Beatification of Pope john Paul II is long process for and this is just his first step to arrive at the altar and be venerated in the catholic church as Saint but he was not yet declare as a Saint, To be Saint there will be a long process that has to be done and to be canonize there will be a second miracle needed. In this proceeding as for others to understand that the beloved Pope is still and wont be declare as a saint but a candidate to be one of the Saints and there will be no need for harsh comments of all sorts, Our beloved pope is no longer with us and what only left to us is his life story, his achievement as a pope and in service to Catholics church all over the world, his undeniable love and servitude to the church, to the catholic people and to God. that I think if not more, would suffice to be considered blessed all for the sake of his legacy to the Catholic Church and to our Catholic faith.

The Blessed Pope John Paul II, visited the Philippines twice already, one in February 1981 and the second was on January of 1995. Here are some of the photos during his visit to us