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Already plans are well underway inNew Zealand’s cathedral churches to mark the canonisation of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II . The canonisations will take place at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome at 10am on 27 April, the Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday). The corresponding time here in New Zealand will Read more
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Pope John XXIII used to make secret unscheduled trips out of the Vatican, driving around Rome and the surrounding area, a former papal aide has revealed. “Good Pope John” would occasionally say he needed to “escape”. Continue reading Related Posts:Oldest member of College of Cardinals dies aged 100Vatican denies claims on Ratzinger and Fatima Read more
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This week we celebrate the first anniversary (13 March) of the election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as Pope Francis. But it is next month that we will witness an event that says more about what to make of him and what to expect in his Pontificate. In April, Pope Francis will beatify on the same day Read more
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Pope Francis will declare Popes John Paul II and John XXIII saints on April 27 next year. The announcement was made on Monday during a meeting with cardinals. The Associated Press reported that analysts have said the decision to canonize the two popes together was aimed at unifying the church because each has his own Read more
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The Vatican this week said Pope Francis will host a meeting of cardinals on September 30 to formally approve the canonization of Blesseds John Paul II and John XXIII. Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, said the date for the canonization will be announced after the meeting. He said only Pope Read more
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Who could have imagined what has happened in the last weeks? When I decided, months ago, to resign all of my official duties on the occasion of my 85th birthday, I assumed I would never see fulfilled my dream that — after all the setbacks following the Second Vatican Council — the Catholic church would Read more
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The future Blessed Pope John XXIII, born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli’s vision stretched far, very far. Vatican II had to return to its evangelical roots and get rid of the shell that had built up around it over the centuries, driving it further and further away from its Master. “There will never be a Pius XIII”: to Read more
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The Vatican II council, which began 50 years ago next month, was the most momentous religious event in 450 years. On January 25, 1959, the newly elected Pope John XXIII invited 18 cardinals from the Vatican bureaucracy to attend a service at the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. He told them Read more
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In 1962, I moved from the Brigidine Convent at Indooroopilly in Brisbane to St Joseph’s College, Nudgee Junior, under the care of the Christian Brothers. I was an impressionable eight-year-old and was in grade 3. I well recall one of the brothers taking the class up to the top floor of the school. We gathered Read more
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The saint whose story inspires me the most is Blessed Pope John XXIII. Born into a peasant family, one of 13 children, he wore hand-me-down clothes until he was in gradate school. He was unabashedly human. He smoked cigarettes, drank wine and enjoyed eating. He was elected pope at the age of 77 in 1958 Read more
