Pope Francis canonized Saint John Paul II with Saint John XXIII in the Vatican City on April 27, 2014, a Divine Mercy Sunday, an observance that he established on April 30, 2000.
October 22 was chosen as his feast day to remember the anniversary of the liturgical inauguration of his Papacy in 1978.
Saint John Paul II served as Pope for 27 years up to the time of his death at the age of 84 on April 2, 2005. He was beatified by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on May 1, 2011, also on a Divine Mercy Sunday.
The process for his beatification was the fastest on record as never before has a Pope been beatified by his immediate successor.
Waiving the five-year waiting period, the process started about two months after his death after a French nun, Sr. Marie Simon-Pierre’s miraculous cure from Parkinson’s disease after she prayed to him.
The first non-Italian Pope in 455 years after having been elected to the papacy on Oct. 16, 1978, the Vatican newspaper refers to Saint John Paul II as “a passionate witness to Christ from his childhood to his last breath.”
His pontificate of more than 26 years was the third longest in history. As part of his effort to promote greater understanding between nations and between religions, he undertook numerous trips abroad, traveling far greater distances than had all other popes combined!
Facts
Feastday: October 22
Patron: of World Youth Day (Co- Patron)
Birth: 1920
Death: 2005
Beatified: May 1, 2011 Saint Peter’s Square, Vatican City by Pope Benedict XVI
Canonized: April 27, 2014 Saint Peter’s Square, Vatican City by Pope Francis
Kenrick Vaz 