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<p>VATICAN CITY - More than a quarter-million people - rich and poor, royal and regular - flooded St. Peter's Square today for the beatification of Mother Teresa, honoring the nun who built shelters, orphanages and clinics around the world to care for those forsaken by everyone else.</p>

Oct. 19, 2003. 10:05 AM 300,000 gather for Mother Teresa's beatificationAlbanian nun founded order that cares for world's most destitute NICOLE WINFIELDASSOCIATED PRESS VATICAN CITY - More than a quarter-million people — rich and poor, royal and regular — flooded St. Peter's Square today for the beatification of Mother Teresa, honouring the nun who built shelters, orphanages and clinics around the world to care for those no one else would. Pope John Paul presided over the open-air mass, but for the first time in a major Vatican ceremony, was unable to utter a word of his homily, leaving other prelates...

(English-language translation) San Juan Archbishop Roberto González Nieves will announce today the opening of the process to beatify Rafael Cordero, a teacher who history has distinguished as "Puerto Rico's lay saint". EL VOCERO learned that Church authorities began an investigation into his life close to one year ago. Cordero, who has been recognized in history for his contributions to the education of Puerto Ricans in the 19th century, was a person who profoundly lived his Christian faith. He was a black freeman who was born into a Christian family in 1790. His parents educated him [themselves], since he lived in...

<p>NEW YORK, June 6 (UPI) -- Pope John Paul II emphasized a woman's role in the family during the beatification ceremony of the first Croatian woman Friday.</p> <p>The pontiff said, "In a special way, God has entrusted children to your care, and thus you are called to become an important support in the life of every person, especially within the context of the family."</p>

APOSTOLIC VOYAGE TO POLANDHoly Mass and Beatifications:Zygmunt Szczesny FelinskiJan BalickiJan BeyzymSancja SzymkowiakHOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER Blonie, Kraków, 18 August 2002 "This is my commandment,that you love one another as I have loved you" (Jn 15:2).Dear Brothers and Sisters!1. The words of Jesus which we just heard are closely related to the theme of today’s liturgical assembly in Blonie in Kraków: "God, rich in mercy". This phrase in a way captures the entire truth about the love of God which has redeemed humanity. "God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, even when...

Pope John Paul warned the world on Sunday at the crowning event of his pilgrimage to his Polish homeland that the new millennium is threatened by an onslaught of man-made evil.PREACHING TO AN estimated 2.7 million people packed in and around Krakow’s Blonia meadow, the largest crowd ever assembled to hear him in Poland, the frail Pope said a lack of respect for life was leading the world to destruction.        “Man lives in fear of the future, of emptiness, of suffering and annihilation,” said the Pope, 82, who during his four-day trip has offered a message...

MEXICO CITY (AP) _ With an embroidered Indian stole draped over his shoulders, a seemingly invigorated Pope John Paul II beatified two Mexican Indian martyrs on Thursday, proclaiming them examples of ``how one can reach God without renouncing one's own culture.'' The exuberant ceremony heavy on Indian languages, music and dance wound up a grueling 11-day pilgrimage to the Americas aimed at reinforcing the church's appeal to Indians to counter Protestant gains. As he ended his fifth trip to Mexico, the pope thanked the nation for its passionate welcome that saw millions pour into the streets to see him...

BODY OF CLOISTERED U.S. NUN WHO DIED IN 1939 FOUND 'INTACT' WITH GREEN PALM The spokesman for a monastery in Pennsylvania has confirmed that the body of a nun who died 63 years ago -- in 1939 -- appears to be "intact" and holding a palm that remains green. The discovery was made last August during renovation of a mausoleum in Coopersburg, about seven miles southeast of Allentown, where the nun, Mother Therese of Jesus, founded the Carmelite Monastery of St. Therese of the Child Jesus and St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi. While there are a number of instances in...