Pope Francis Pope John XXIII Pope John Paul II
Last week Sunday, two giants of
the Roman Catholic faith became saints and millions of people, including
Nigerians, travelled to Rome for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Indeed, Pope Francis’ decision to declare
two of his predecessors, Pope John XXIII and John Paul II, saints at
the same time is unprecedented and taking the world by storm. It was no
doubt an unusual event that drew the attention of the world to The
Vatican.
In the words of Most Rev. Father Felix
Ajakaye, the Bishop of the Archdiocese of Ekiti, “The canonisation on
Divine Mercy Sunday, 27 April 2014 at St Peter’s basilica, Rome, Italy,
of Pope John XXIII, the Italian Pontiff, and Pope John Paul II, the
Polish Pope, by Pope Francis was historic. It would be the first time
two Popes would be canonised at the same time, while two Popes – Francis
and Benedict XVI (Pope Emeritus), would be concelebrating at the Mass
of Canonisation. Yes! Four Popes at a celebration- two dead and two
still living.”
History has it that the Catholic Church
offers the lives of outstanding women and men as models of holiness,
declaring them “Blessed” or “Saint”. This is not to mean that they were
absolutely perfect, neither does not mean that the person being so
honoured was without imperfection or sin.
What does it mean to be canonised?
Ajakaye described Canonisation as “the
declaration of a deceased person to be a saint by the Catholic Church.
With the declaration, the person is included in the canon or the list of
recognised saints.”
He went on, “Notably, the act of
canonisation is reserved to the Holy See (the Vatican) and occurs at the
conclusion of a long process requiring extensive poof that the person
proposed for canonisation lived and died in such an exemplary and holy
way that he or she is worthy to be recognised as a saint.”
In view of this, Beatification and
canonisation mean that a person lived his or her life with God, relying
totally on God’s infinite mercy, going forward with God’s strength and
power, believing in the impossible, loving enemies and persecutors,
forgiving in the midst of evil and violence, hoping beyond all hope, and
leaving the world a better place.
In his recently published book to mark
the event, the Director of Social Communications, Catholic Archdiocese
of Lagos, Monsignor Gabriel Osu explained that “Canonisation can only
follow after the approval of one miracle attributed to the intercession
of a candidate who is a member of the universal Church, whether they are
a martyr or a beautified confessor of the faith”. He added: “Someone
can be proclaimed a saint on the basis of other factors and reasons
which replace a scientifically and theologically proven miracle.”
What were the Legacies?
Such was the legacy of the two humble men the Church canonized last week.
“Pope John XXIII (real name Angelo
Roncalli) will forever be remembered for the convocation of the Vatican
Council II, while Pope John Paul II (real name Karol Wojtyla) will be
forever linked to the new era of a truly global Church. His papacy
opened up new vistas”, said Osu.
Beyond these historical factors, John
XXIII and John Paul II are believed to have modeled for the Church the
call to holiness and reminded all, by the simplicity and joy of their
Gospel-rooted lives, that all faithful are called to be saints. “The
Church is the “home of holiness,” and holiness is our most accurate
image, our authentic calling card and our greatest gift to the world.”
It would be recalled that from the very
beginning of his priestly, Episcopal and Petrine ministry, Pope John
XXIII taught all Catholic faithful to see goodness in others, to love
people and to hope beyond all hope when situations indicated otherwise.
He won over the world, in many similar ways that Pope Francis is doing
now because of his unabashed simplicity and genuine goodness and humour.
In the life of Pope John Paul II,
holiness was contagious. He was not only a Holy Father, but a Father who
was and is still believed to be holy. On April 2, 2005, he died a
public death that stopped the world for several days.
“In Pope John Paul, people saw someone
who lived with God as well as the people. “Pope John Paul II was a
sinner who experienced God’s mercy and forgiveness. He was the prophetic
teacher who preached the Word in season and out of season. He looked at
us, loved us, touched us, healed us and gave us hope. He taught us not
to be afraid. He showed us how to live, how to love, how to forgive and
how to die. He taught us how to embrace the cross in the most
excruciating moments of life, knowing that the cross was not God’s final
answer”, noted Father Lui Odu.
“For us here in Nigerians, John Paul II
was more than just the pope, he was our Pope. The Pope who visited our
country twice, ordained several of our priests and crowned it all by
beautifying one of our very own – the Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene
Tansi”, he added.
And how about Father Iwene Tansi?
Some critics have continued to wonder why
in the history of the Catholic Church, no black man that has been
canonised as saint. Why some ‘rebels’ are quick to castigate the Vatican
for being overtaken by racial bias so much so that they feel that the
blacks are not worthy of godly deeds meriting sainthood, others
speculate that the reason may simply because the Cardinals, who are the
major policy formulators and decision makers of the Catholic Church are
mostly whites, hence when there are not enough black cardinals to vote
in favour of a black saint.
It would be recalled that on 22 March
1998, Pope John Paul II came to Nigeria for the Beautification Mass of
Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi. Although he is yet to be canonised,
Monsignor Gabriel Osu says there is nothing like racial discrimination
in the church and that when his time is ripe, Tansi would be canonised.
“When it is his time, he will be
canonised. Look at Pope John XXIII since the 21st century when he
introduced the second Vatican Council, he was not canonised until now.
So, my advice is that we should leave the issue of Tansi to God and the
people in charge; God knows the best.
Osu added: “The church is so universal,
hence if the church starts looking into the minute cases we all bother
about, nobody will move forward. The church does not joke with things of
this nature; it goes through a lot of processes before they can come up
and say this man is without doubt, a saint. At least, for now, we pray
through Tansi’s name. So, just leave the Church in his holy and infinite
wisdom to do its job. You know, you cannot say someone is a saint today
and tomorrow you say he is no longer in a saint.
“The church does not just wake up and do
anything. What will Americans say with all their might and money? What
will Britain say with all their might and money? Should they also
complain that their candidates were not so honoured? God’s time is the
best and when the time comes it will happen. I pray it happens during my
time”,
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