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| Blessed Pope John XXIII |
Last week we received the news that Blessed Pope
John XXIII and Blessed Pope John Paul II will both be canonised this year. This was
good news, worthy to be celebrated. Unfortunately some in the Church have again turned this into a means to create division in the Church.
No sooner had the announcement from the
Vatican become public than we were subjected to people questioning the decision
to canonise Blessed Pope John Paul II and implying that there is something sinister in
the decision. The usual Catholic publications also jumped on the bandwagon.
The accusation is that Blessed Pope John Paul II’s
canonisation has come in an extremely short period and that this is seen as an indication of some sinister
agenda. No one has yet elaborated to explain what that sinister agenda might be.
Personally I fail to understand what anyone
could possibly achieve from getting someone canonised too quickly and what
sinister agenda could therefore be satisfied in doing so. Maybe someone could
write to me and explain what could be achieved by having someone canonised and
from doing it too quickly.
There has been no criticism of the fact that
Blessed Pope John XXIII has had only one miracle approved. The decision to canonise him
was only made possible because Pope Francis waived the requirement for the
second miracle, after the Church had waited for this second miracle for about
23 years.
I have no problem with this decision by Pope
Francis to waive this second miracle requirement. It does however seem to me
that if there is going to be accusations of something sinister, logic dictates
that it would be aimed here. It seems to me that waiving the normal requirement
for two miracles would be a greater sign of something ‘fishy’ going on, than
where the requirement for two miracles has been satisfied.
Anyway, to be fair, I really do not believe
that there is anything sinister with the canonisation of either of these popes.
I think that what is actually sinister is that there are people who are using
the canonisation of these popes to sow discord in the Church.
I haven’t heard any common sense explanation
as to why they have a problem with the speed of the canonisation other than the
fact that, reading between the lines, these people see Blessed Pope John Paul II as a
"conservative" pope.
It shows that the motives of those opposed
to the canonisation of Blessed Pope John Paul II are less about ensuring that holy men
and women are canonised for the good of the Church and the glory of God, and
more about staging a protest against Church teaching because of their personal dissatisfaction with it.
In my humble opinion these people want the Church teaching to conform to our modern world, not the world to conform to the teaching of the Church. Fortunately the Church is resisting this, as it should.
