VATICAN CITY - When preparing for two canonizations that draw nearly 1 million people to Rome, people usually pack essentials like food, water, raingear and sunhats.

KRAKOW, Poland - Tens of thousands of Polish Catholics celebrated their country's newest saint -- John Paul II -- by converging on the southern city where he served as cardinal-archbishop before becoming pope.

Brampton, Ont. - Polish Catholics flocked to St. Eugene de Mazenod parish in the early morning to celebrate the canonization of St. John Paul II, a son of Poland and beloved pope of the universal Church.
St. Eugene’s houses a first-class relic of St. John Paul II, three drops of his blood located below a statue of the pontiff.

On April 27, by 3 a.m. parishioners had already begun to arrive to pray. They listened to broadcasts from local priests who were present at the canonization in Rome.

Fr. Peter Nowak celebrated mass at 4 a.m. in both English and Polish. He opened mass by giving thanks to both popes — St. John XXIII and St. John Paul II — being canonized on this Divine Mercy Sunday.

“We are, for the most part, people of the head,” he said. “Yet both of these saints spoke to the heart, spoke from the heart.”

Nowak called St. John XXIII someone who simply felt the call of God in his heart. This “caretaker pope,” he said, stretched out his arms to welcome the 20th century and tear down barriers between the faithful and clergy. He wanted the basic language of the Church to be the language of love, said Nowak.

He went on to say that St. John XXIII was the beginning and St. John Paul II was the natural progression, carrying out what the former pope started.

By 5 a.m., parishioners lined up to venerate the relic of St. John Paul II before walking out into the sunrise on this historic day.
More to come from The Catholic Register.

VATICAN CITY - Volunteers wearing neon yellow vests interlocked their arms and led the crowds, several hundred at a time, slowly toward St. Peter's Square.

VATICAN CITY - Canonizing two recent popes in the presence of his immediate predecessor, Pope Francis praised the new Sts. John XXIII and John Paul II as men of courage and mercy, who responded to challenges of their time by modernizing the Catholic Church in fidelity to its ancient traditions.

VATICAN CITY - Blesseds John XXIII and John Paul II left lasting marks on the way the Catholic Church understands other religions and the way it interacts with believers of other faith communities.

The following is excerpted with permission from John Paul II: A Saint for Canada by Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB, published by Novalis Publishing, www.novalis.ca.

VATICAN CITY - With the canonizations of John XXIII and John Paul II, 80 former popes have been declared saints. The vast majority came from the early days of the Church, when many popes were martyred. Here are 10 of the more interesting sainted popes:

OTTAWA - In a career as a senator, academic and former seminarian in Rome, Senate Speaker Noel Kinsella met both Pope John XXIII and John Paul II.

Saints are not saints because they fit some precast mould of perfection. The Church has proclaimed at least 20,000 saints over its two millennia and no two of them are the same.