Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Czestochowa (Agenzia Fides) - “The news of the Beatification of John Paul II is a story full of joy. It is a great thing that the Beatification will take place on the Feast of the Divine Mercy,” Archbishop Stanislaw Nowak, the Metropolitan of Czestochowa told Fides, who was a pupil and collaborator of the then Cardinal Karol Wojtyla and then of Pope John Paul II. On 14 January, Pope Benedict XVI authorized the promulgation of the Decree on the miracle attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla). This act concludes the process that precedes the Rite of Beatification, which will take place at the Vatican on 1 May 2011, the Second Sunday of Easter, Feast of the Divine Mercy, established by Pope John Paul II himself.
“John Paul II is the great witness to the Divine Mercy together with Saint Faustina Kowalska and Blessed Fr Michal Sopocko,” added Archbishop Nowak. “John Paul II loved the Divine Mercy and did so much for this feast in the Church.” According to Archbishop Nowak, “Pope Benedict XVI has wisely responded to the demand of humanity who wanted him made 'Holy Now'.” Archbishop Stanislaw Nowak, born in 1935 in Jeziorzany, in the Archdiocese of Krakow, was ordained priest in 1958, then Bishop of Czestochowa in 1984 and later Metropolitan Archbishop of the same ecclesiastical jurisdiction, elevated to an Archdiocese in 1992. (MF/SL) (Agenzia Fides 15/01/2011)
