I completely agree with you! JPII Was an amazing man and he was appointed by God to his position. Before anyone jumps on me let me explain. I truly believe that God appoints our Pope. He will not let the wrong person be placed in that position. Granted, not all of our Popes were truly holy, saintly people but if you look back throughout history that man was the right man for the job durring that situation in time. Period.
This is very true. And to remain on the topic of the thread, it asks a very poignant question. I want to direct our attention to that question. It asks why some people want to stop the canonization of Pope John Paul II. Herein lies the problem. The question itself assumes that someone or some group can stop the canonization of a saint. This is not possible.
Therefore, a reformulated question would be better. “Why do some Catholics oppose the canonization of John Paul II.” You certainly can oppose it, but you cannot stop it. If it is the will of God revealed to the Church, the canonization will take place, period.
That being said, it is important to remember that because John Paul was placed on the Chair of Peter, by the Holy Spirit, does not make him a saint. His sanctity is not determined by his place or role in the Church, but by his personal journey of faith. What the Church examines is whether or not this man lived his faith in a heroic manner. She does not look at his achievements during his papacy. His papacy may have been the best in the history of the Church or the greatest disaster and it takes nothing or adds nothing to his sanctiy. His sanctity is determined by his interior life of virtue.
Let’s for a moment assume that he was a disaster as a Pontiff. Well . . . there have been many saints who did a horrible job in their respective ecclesial roles. But whatever they did, they did it out of love for God and his Church. That love was pure. Their lives were lived in an ongoing communion with Christ and in immitation of Christ’s own virtues. This is sanctity.
As to whether one is in a friary or not, the truth remains the truth. The same truth that applies to a friar, a monk, a nun, a priest, also applies to a lay person. The universal call to holiness is the same for one and all. All of us are tiny pencils in God’s hand, as Mother Teresa said. All of us are insignificant and therefore, none of us should ever hang on to our opinions with such fervor as to forget that they are just that, our opinions, not revealed Truths. Only the Magisterium, mystics and very special individuals such as St. Faustina (in modern times) have been gifted with a direct experience of revelation. The rest of us journey through life simply trying to understand revealed truth. Our understanding can be very flawed, because we do not always have that sanctifying grace and the mystical experience necessary to see Truth. Most of us access Truth through the teachings of the scripture, Church and tradition. Anything that we formulate on our own must be kept in its proper perspective. It is our formulation and it is important only to us, because as Deacon Ed so eloquently pointed out, the Church is not a democracy.
In the end, whether one desires to see John Paul II canonized or not, we will have to settle for whatever the Church decides and assent to it, if we are to remain in communion with Peter, who will be the one to make the final determination.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
They have opinions. Again, people not doing the canonization get to have opinions, particularly if they’re very aware of the process, how decisions are made, and the many factors (there are many) that go into canonization.