The pope’s timetable for the next three months
In September, the Pope will travel to Slovakia, from the 11th to the 14th, where he will beatify the bishop Vasil Hopko (1904-1976) and the nun Zdenka Cecilia Schelingova (1916-1955). The former was imprisoned for 15 years, during the Czechoslovak communist regimes persecution of the Greek Catholic Church. Sr. Zdenka was also imprisoned by the communists for helping six priests to escape from prison in February 1955. She was released in 1955, three months before her death on July 31.
On September 27, the Holy Father will celebrate a Mass in St. Peters Basilica, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the deaths of the popes Paul VI and John Paul I.
On October 5, the Pope will canonize the blesseds Daniele Comboni, Arnold Janssen and Josef Freinademetz. Two days later, he will go to the Marian sanctuary of Pompeii for the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.
On October 16, John Paul II will be joined by all his Cardinals for a Mass to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his election to the See of Peter, and on the following Sunday, the 19th, they will all meet again for the beatification of Mother Teresa. Indeed, the 165 cardinals as well as the presidents of the episcopal conferences have been invited to Rome for this occasion.
During the course of this extraordinary gathering, six of the cardinals will speak during a session of reflection, spread over three days, and behind closed doors. Cardinal Bernardin Gantin henceforth retired in Bénin will give a talk on the petrine ministry and communion in the episcopate, Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger on the priesthood, consecrated life and vocation; Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, on the family; Cardinal Nasrallah Pierre Sfeir, maronite patriarch of Antioch, on ecumenism and the cardinal archbishop of Bombay, Ivan Dias, on the missions. Finally, Secretary of State, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, will give a talk entitled 25 years in the service of peace. On this occasion, John Paul II will deliver an apostolic exhortation on the ministry of bishops, as a follow up of the synod of October 2001.
November on All Saints Day, the Pope will pray in the crypt of St. Peter for all the deceased popes. On November 9, he will beatify the servants of God, Juan Nepomuceno Zegri y Moreno, Luigi Maria Monti, Bonfacia Rodriguez Castro, the Belgian Valentin Paquay, and the Frenchwoman Rosalie Rendu. Finally, on Thursday November 13, a Mass will be celebrated for the repose of the souls of all the cardinals and bishops who have died during the past year.
The number of beatifications carried out by John Paul II is still very impressive. We cant refrain from quoting Romano Amerio: John Paul has canonized more people than all the popes of this century (20th) put together. But in this way the dignity of canonization is lost. If canonizations are so numerous, they cannot be, we would not use the word valid, but taken into account neither can they be objects of veneration by the universal Church. ( ) If the number of canonizations increases, their value diminishes1. What is more, exceptions to the procedure are frequent, which diminishes the value of the latter and ends up devaluing the canonizations themselves, at least the current ones.2 The following article is a new case in point.
