Canonization of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II explained

Honorific Prefix:	Saints
John XXIII and John Paul II
Honorific Suffix:	Patriarchs of Rome
Birth Date:	25 November 1881 Sotto il Monte, Bergamo, Kingdom of Italy 18 May 1920 Wadowice, Republic of Poland
Feast Day:	11 October 22 October
Venerated In:	Anglican Church of Canada Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Roman Catholic Church Roman Catholic Church
Death Date:	3 June 1963 Apostolic Palace, Vatican City 2 April 2005 Apostolic Palace, Vatican City
Titles:	Popes
Canonized Date:	27 April 2014
Canonized Place:	Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City
Canonized By:	Pope Francis
Patronage:	Patriarchy of Venice, Papal delegates, Second Vatican Council, Christian unity Archdiocese of Krakow, World Youth Day, young Catholics, families, Swidnica, Wadowice

Pope John XXIII (25 November 1881 – 3 June 1963) and Pope John Paul II (18 May 1920 – 2 April 2005) reigned as popes of the Roman Catholic Church and the sovereigns of Vatican City (respectively from 1958 to 1963 and 1978 to 2005). Their canonizations were held on 27 April 2014.^[1] The decision to canonize was made official by Pope Francis on 5 July 2013 following the recognition of a miracle attributed to the intercession of John Paul II, while John XXIII was canonized for his merits of opening the Second Vatican Council. The date of the canonization was assigned on 30 September 2013.^{[2] [3]}

The Canonization Mass was celebrated by Pope Francis (with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI concelebrating), on 27 April 2014 (Divine Mercy Sunday), in St. Peter's Square (Pope John Paul had died on the vigil of Divine Mercy Sunday in 2005).^{[4] [5]} About 150 Cardinals and 700 bishops concelebrated the Mass, and at least 500,000 people attended the Mass with an estimated 300,000 others watching from video screens placed around Rome.^[6]

People present at the canonization

Delegations from over a hundred States or international organizations were present for the canonization in Rome, including 19 heads of state and 24 heads of government.^[7]

Country	Title	Dary
Liechtenstein	Princess	Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein and Marie, Princess of Liechtenstein
Andorra	Co-Prince	Joan Enric Vives Sicília
Belgium	Former Monarchs	King Albert II and Queen Paola
Spain	Monarchs	King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía
Australia	Minister for Education	Christopher Pyne
Hungary	President	János Áder
	Prime Minister	Viktor Orbán
Slovakia	President	Ivan Gašparovič
	Prime Minister	Robert Fico
Paraguay	President	Horacio Cartes
Lithuania	President	Dalia Grybauskaitė
	Prime Minister	Algirdas Butkevicius
Lebanon	President	Michel Suleiman
	Prime Minister	Tammam Salam
	President	Atifete Jahjaga
Honduras	President	Juan Orlando Hernández
Equatorial Guinea	President	Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo
Gabon	President	Ali Bongo Ondimba
El Salvador	President	Mauricio Funes
	Vice President and President-elect	Salvador Sánchez Cerén
Ecuador	President	Rafael Correa
Cameroon	President	Paul Biya
Bosnia and Herzegovina	President	Bakir Izetbegovic
Argentina	President of the Chamber of Deputies	Julián Domínguez
Mexico	First Lady	Angélica Rivera
	Special Advisor to the President	John Podesta
Ireland	Taoiseach	Enda Kenny
	Minister of Foreign Affairs	Elías Jaua
Ukraine	Minister of Foreign Affairs	Andrii Deshchytsia
Zimbabwe	President	Robert Mugabe
Luxembourg	Grand Duke	Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg
Croatia	President	Ivo Josipović
	Prime Minister	Zoran Milanović
Bulgaria	President	Rosen Plevneliev
	Royal family	Tsar Simeon II, former Prime MinisterQueen Margarita Princess Marie Louise of Bulgaria
	Vice President	Wu Den-yih (吳敦義)
France	Prime Minister	Manuel Valls
	Former First Lady	Bernadette Chirac
	Former Prime Minister	François Fillon
	Senator and President of Ain France-Holy group the Senate	Charles Revet
	Member of Parliament and President of Ain France-Holy group the National Assembly	Xavier Breton
	President of the European Council	Herman Van Rompuy
	President of the European Commission	José Manuel Durão Barroso
Italy	President	Giorgio Napolitano
	First Lady	Clio Maria Bittoni
	Prime Minister	Matteo Renzi
Poland	President	Bronislaw Komorowski
	First Lady	Anna Komorowska
	Prime Minister	Donald Tusk
	Former President	Aleksander Kwasniewski
	Former First Lady	Jolanta Kwasniewska
	Former President	Lech Walesa
	Former First Lady	Danuta Walesa
	Marshal of the Sejm	Ewa Kopacz
	President of the Senate	Bogdan Borusewicz
Slovenia	President	Borut Pahor
	Prime Minister	Alenka Bratušek

Notes and References

1. News: Popes set for historic Vatican saints ceremony . 27 April 2014 . BBC News. 27 April 2014 .
2. Web site: Popes John Paul II and John XXIII declared saints. https://web.archive.org/web/20140427201427/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/the-pope/10788640/Popes-John-Paul-II-and-John-XXIII-declared-saints.html. dead. 27 April 2014. 27 April 2014. Daily Telegraph. 29 April 2014.
3. Web site: A Double Canonization for Popes John XXIII and John Paul II. 27 April 2014. Wall Street Journal . 29 April 2014.
4. News: Popes John Paul II and John XXIII declared saints in double canonisation. Lizzy. Davies. 27 April 2014. The Guardian . 29 April 2014. London.
5. Web site: Sainthood for John Paul II and John XXIII, as crowds pack St. Peter's Square. 27 April 2014. CNN. 29 April 2014. Laura . Smith-Spark. Delia . Gallagher. Ben . Wedeman.
6. News: Los Angeles Times. Canonization of predecessors provides another boost for Pope Francis. Patrick J.. McDonnell . Tom . Kington. 27 April 2014. Los Angeles, CA. An estimated 800,000 people descended on Rome for the dual canonization, a Vatican spokesman said. That included the half a million around the Vatican and another 300,000 watching the event on giant TV screens set up throughout the city of Rome..
7. Web site: John XXIII and John Paul II Inscribed in the Book of Saints . 27 April 2014 . Vatican Information Service. 27 April 2014 . .