The president of Poland’s Bishops’ Conference has said the Vatican rejected his request to have St John Paul II declared a Doctor of the Church and patron saint of Europe.
Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki of Poznan said most bishops worldwide also ignored the proposal.
He said: “The title of Doctor of the Church is reserved for saints who performed a special service, especially in the development of theology.
“The idea of patrons for all Europe is quite a new one, dating from the twentieth century when the founders of Europe’s contemporary order looked for ways of integrating our continent’s nations and states. Although the first stage of our initiative has been completed, and the appropriate seeds sown in the ground, it seems we’ll now need a lot of patience.”
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