Not that there was any doubt about this, mind you.

[wombat_socho]

Pope Benedict XVI beatified Pope John Paul II today before more than a million Catholics in St. Peter's Square today.
I can't remember the name of the book off the top of my head, but there was a joint biography of John Paul the Great, Ronald Reagan, and Margaret Thatcher and the important roles they played in finally choking the life out of the Evil Empire that was he Soviet Union. While there were many factors in the fall of the USSR, not least of which were the internal contradictions of Marxist-Leninist economic theory, no serious historian of the Cold War can ignore the renascence of the Catholic Church under John Paul II and its renewed, public resistance to the vile, poisonous lies of Communism. It was John Paul II who helped stiffen the steely resolve of the Solidarity union in Poland, which in turn sent shockwaves through the other captive nations of the Eastern Bloc. It was John Paul II who survived the assassination planned by the KGB's puppets in Bulgaria and their tool the Turk; it was John Paul II who forgave his would-be assassin; it was John Paul II who did not falter in his opposition to evil.

And no matter what the talking heads and the pundits and the revisionist historians say, we will not forget.
The beatification of John Paul II is only the first step.

(h/t Cubachi)

Comments

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

I dunno, but this all seems a little too fast. However, it's not my church, so ya'll can do what you want. (Ain't I beneficent as all get out?)

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

Golly, yes!

More seriously, there are a lot of people who probably wonder why it took so long for the Pope to get around to this.

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

Once he's sainted how is going to be refered as? St. Pope John Paul II, St. John Paul II, or by his name from before he was Pope? Just curious.

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

St. John Paul II. Maybe as St. John Paul the Great, but we'll see. Won't be for another five years, unless we start seeing a whole crapload of miracles attributed to his intervention.

Crapload

[(Anonymous)]

In this case "Crapload" is two miracles as established by Pope John Paul II. Honestly, this was a continuation of simplification begun by Pope Paul IV. In any case, to me, it matters not, John Paul II was a brilliant politician and a great Pope. I hope that his place in heaven is assured and canonization is gilding the lily done for human needs, John Paul II intercedes for the living not vice versa.
But that is just heretical MRT

Re: Crapload

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

I'd forgotten that. Thank you for reminding me.