John Paul II to Lie in State for Beatification

Asia One News ^ | 2/18/11

[marshmallow]

VATICAN CITY, Feb 18, 2011 (AFP) - The Vatican on Friday said late pope John Paul II's coffin will lie in state after his beatification on May 1 and warned the two million plus pilgrims expected against possible ticket touts.

The coffin, which is currently in a crypt under Saint Peter's, will be displayed inside the basilica after the beatification ceremony and he will then buried "in private" in the basilica, the Vatican said in a statement.

John Paul died in 2005 and was replaced by Pope Benedict XVI.

The beatification, which comes after Vatican authorities attributed a miracle to John Paul earlier this year, is the first step to sainthood.

The Vatican has said it expects as many as two and a half million people to flock to Rome from around the world to honour the popular Polish pope.

Tickets for the ceremonies "are always issued free of charge and no person or organisation can request any kind of payment", the Vatican said in a statement, adding however that there would be restrictions for public safety.

The Vatican said there would be a mass on April 30 on the eve of the beatification starting from 2000 GMT at the Circo Massimo, an ancient Roman arena.

This will be followed by the formal beatification ceremony presided by Benedict XVI in St. Peter's Square starting from 0900 GMT on May 1.

[marshmallow]

Ping!

[OpusatFR]

Will the Litany of the Saints be sung for the Beatification or is that just for Canonization?

The Litany gives me such a spiritual lift! It’s awesome to hear.

PS Marshmallow, so you don’t get FReepmailed too much, you should have made it a caucus thread. ( -;

*not that it means anything anymore apparently.

[SevenofNine]

COOL

I really count the days that when Archbishop Roger Mahoney so out there in CITY OF LA head of Cathoic Church

[marshmallow]

Noted.............

[antiRepublicrat]

Is it just me, or is this a bit creepy? The guy’s been dead for almost five years, let him rest.

[Responsibility2nd]

I’m with you.

They haven’t buried this guy after 5 years?

And they’re giving out tickets to see this holy dead guy?

Not just creepy. Macabre.

[marshmallow]

You were right.......... :-)

I thought the sanctity of JPII was a fairly non-controversial issue, but there's always an angle............

[OpusatFR]

Here it is, I found it.

The Litany of the Saints in English with Icons pictured.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWt5y301BSY

This one is in Latin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiM9uJIN64g&feature=related

LOL — Lent comes early nu?

[DManA]

Can anyone explain why there is such a rush to get this done?

[NYer]

Ping!

[webheart]

Piling on the Catholic church... What is it about dead people that you can't just leave them alone? He is in a crypt, where he is to rest until Jesus comes back and resurrects the faithful and good, that is how the story goes. It smacks of a publicity stunt to drag his body out of a crypt to charge admission for 2 million people to walk by it. Maybe they won't charge admission, but you can just about bet the collection basket(s) will be right beside the walkway, there will be ample opportunities to drop a coin or two in.

My mother is a longtime Catholic. She dragged her six kids to church every Sunday for years and years. She left us in the pews and went to the back of the church to cry because those four boys of hers wouldn't sit still and be quiet. Poor woman. Anyway, she had this locket with a little bit of what looked like a bone fragment in thee, which she called a relic, and it was supposed to be a little piece of some saint's body. I don't know if it was real, but she thought it was. I wasn't the only one in existence, so I assume that it may be a common practice amongst Catholics to hold on to some physical piece of a historic church figure. Talk about being parted out!

[paladinan]

Your mother had what’s called a “First-Class Relic” (i.e. an actual piece of a Saint’s body), which is rather uncommon for a Catholic to have, BTW. For reference: second-class relics are pieces of items owned by the Saint, and third-class relics are items which have been touched to a first-class relic (or the tomb, or a second-class relic, if the [1st class] relics of the Saint are not available).

As for relics: look at 2 Kings 13:20-21 for an example of how Biblical the idea is, and how God can work through them. You can also find a reference for the basis of 2nd-class relics (cf. Matthew 9:20-22) and 3rd-class relics (Acts 19:11-12).

As for “not being able to leave dead people alone”, two comments:

1) John Paul is not dead. “[God] is not God of the dead, but of the living.” (cf. Mark 12:27)

2) How is the veneration of JP2’s relics in any way disturbing him, or disrespecting him?