The Seedy Side of Sainthood: Was John Paul II Canonized Too Fast?

[DonViejo]

Barbie Latza Nadeau

As the faithful descend on Rome for the double canonization of John Paul II and John XXIII, critics say the two popes were pushed through to sainthood without a thorough vetting.

VATICAN CITY—On a narrow cobblestone street about a block away from St. Peter’s Square, religious pilgrims and tourists crowd around a wicker basket with a sign advertising “Two For One.” The basket is full of metal keychains with the likenesses of John Paul II and John XXIII, the two dead popes who will be elevated to sainthood in a massive “popapalooza” ceremony on April 27. You won’t find the current Pope Francis in the bin, though. His likeness adorns the more expensive posters, calendars and tea towels inside the store. And you won’t find retired Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, who lives in a convent on the Vatican grounds, unless you ask the store clerk. “Not a big seller,” she says, pulling out a shoebox with a few Benedict tokens.

Like many of the 4 million religious pilgrims and curious tourists expected to descend on the eternal city for the canonization ceremony, Genevieve Krall, a Belgian legal assistant, is staying for the week between Easter and the double canonization, contributing to a much-appreciated tourism boost. As a staunch Catholic, she prays to saints as part of her daily devotion, but she isn’t sure that either of the two popes are actually saint material quite yet. “I saw Pope John Paul II in Belgium in 1995 and I was here by chance when he died in 2005,” Krall told The Daily Beast as she rummaged through the keychains for a second John Paul II for her aging mother back home. “I decided to come back for his canonization because it felt personal. It’s rare to have shared the same space in time with someone who is now a saint.”

The feeling that it is just a little bit too soon to elevate John Paul II to sainthood has been echoed by many Catholics who prefer a longer post mortem waiting period to make sure the potential saint’s earthly record holds up. John Paul II will be the fastest tracked saint in the history of Catholic saint-making, beating out Mother Theresa, who previously held the record by just 15 days. When he died in April 2005, cheers erupted calling for “santo subito” or “sainthood immediately,” but few actually thought it would be—or should be—this fast.

Loved as he was for his charisma and his role in the fall of communism, John Paul II actually has a quite appalling report card on his handling of the Church’s child sex abuse scandal, which mushroomed during his 27-year pontificate. Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, says it is hurtful for victims that he is being made a saint so soon. “Little can be done by Catholic officials to erase the pain of hundreds of thousands of deeply wounded men, women and children who have been sexually assaulted by clergy,” she says. “But the church hierarchy can avoid rubbing more salt into these wounds by slowing down their hasty drive to confer sainthood on the pontiff under whose reign most of the countless, widely-documented clergy sex crimes and cover-ups took place.”

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/17/the-seedy-side-of-sainthood-was-john-paul-ii-canonized-too-fast.html

[SheilaT]

1. I suppose only sincere, practicing Catholics ought to be weighing in here.

However, as someone who was raised Catholic but long since left the Church and is adamantly opposed to all organized religion, I'm still going to offer my opinion.

This sort of fast track canonization makes a mockery of what is intended to be a long, thoughtful process. It's a simple cult of personality canonization. Making JPII a saint simply reinforces the very teachings of the Catholic Church that are most antithetical to progress, to giving women control of their own lives and bodies, to facing down repressive regimes.

Just my opinion.