Vatican Beatifies Pope John Paul II

The Roman Catholic Church has beatified Pope John Paul II despite the many child abuse scandals that took place while he was the church’s leader. The ceremony was held Sunday at the Vatican.

The third of four steps in the canonization process, beatification requires the confirmation of a miracle performed by the candidate. A beatified or “blessed” person is considered to have entered heaven, from where he or she can intercede on behalf of the living. —ARK

BBC:

The late Pope, John Paul II, has been officially beatified at a ceremony at the Vatican in front of hundreds of thousands of Catholic faithful.

... It comes amid criticism of the Church for the speed of the beatification and the clerical child sex abuse scandal.

Much of the abuse occurred while John Paul II was Pope, from 1979-2005, and the Church has been criticised for not doing enough to punish those found responsible.

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Flickr / Adam Blicharski

An enshrined image of the late Pope John Paul II.