It’s been 20 years since the death of John Paul II: He loved the Croats and Francis declared him holy
Twenty years after the death of Pope John Paul II, who led the Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005, he is still very popular with the believers, and the Vatican will mark the anniversary of his death on Wednesday by Mass and Prayer Vigil.
Poljak Karol Wojtyla died on April 2, 2005 at the age of 84.
In the last years of his life, he was poor health and under the constant supervision of a doctor, and died because of the heart rate.
More than one million believers and about a thousand of the highest officials of the states and the government attended his funeral on April 8, 2005. His grave below the main altar of the Basilica of St. Peter is still one of the most visited places in the Vatican.
John Paul II. After his death, he quickly quickly became a saint. Pope Francis declared him holy in 2014 together with Pope John XXIII.
As the wonders of John Paul II. The healing of the nuns with Parkinson’s disease and a woman from Costa Rica, who survived the brain disease, were recognized.
Pope Francis has repeatedly emphasized that in John Paul II. See a role model for, among other things, the way he worn with the disease.
In front of the Gemelli Hospital, where John Paul II. spent much of his last years and where Francis has recently been treated for pneumonia, now is a statue of Pope Poles.
The Pope from Eastern Europe and the first Netalian pope after several centuries has had a great influence on the Catholic Church, which he has led for 26 years.
His pontificate is primarily marked by the respect of the hierarchy in all areas, spiritualism and traditionalistic and strict morality.
His conservatism has caused numerous tensions in church circles, primarily because of his perseverance into the inviolability of celibacy and the prohibition of discussing the possibility of women become priestess.
He was also unyielding to believers and insisted on banning artificial methods to prevent conception.
However, he did a lot for the coexistence of different faiths and sought forgiveness for the mistakes and sins of the Church. He visited Croatia three times in 1994, 1998 and 2003.
The Vatican will 20th anniversary of the death of John Paul II. mark with a special Mass in the Basilica of Sts. Peter. Since Pope Francis is still recovering from the disease, Mass will be led by Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
In the evening, a prayer vigil will be held at St. Peter’s Square in Polish and Italian, the Vatican News website announced.
