He was an admirable man, but why not leave the judgment of history to the passage of time? Rushing into these things has a bullying quality: Petition Declaring That Pope John Paul II Should By Public Acclamation Be Known Henceforth and Forever As John Paul the Great.
It is symptomatic of our age…
that we are ill-contented to let history—which is to say posterity—judge anything. This is the most bitterly ironic consequence of the “historic point of view.”
St. John Paul II??
I agree, the 5 year waiting period which Benedict XVI has waived serves a purpose.
So people are not enslaved to their emotions. Sure we loved our Holy Father and perhaps he should be made a saint but if that is true now it will be just as true 5 years from now.
It’s just pure emotionalism, like the crowds in St. Peters chanting “santo sobito”. No man should be declared to be in heaven just because we wish it so, who then would not want their favorite relative, their wife or their child to be immeadiately cannonized.
It trivalizes the whole process. Something that frankly John Paul II may be responsible for anyways, the way he made saints hand over fist.
Kevin V.
(God asks for our obedience, not our opinion)
Bad habits…
Yes exactly, it seems that we are regressing back to the days of ‘canonization by popular acclaim.’ Mother Theresa dies, and immediately everyone is screaming for the Papacy to ram it through the next day.
The Vatican Archives operates under the same rule that Congregation for the Causes of Saints; that being, that documents will not be released for a period of years. That prevents researchers from abusing them in the heat of some intense political or theological controversy.
Even the Baseball Hall of
Even the Baseball Hall of Fame waits 5 years for the first vote on a candidate, regardless of qualifications.