Saintly Popes

From Wikipedia:
"Canonization of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II"

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.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. The Canonization Mass was celebrated by Pope Francis (with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI concelebrating), on Sunday 27 April 2014, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican in Rome on the morning of Divine Mercy Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter and the end of the Octave of Easter (Pope John Paul had died on its vigil in 2005, on a different date). Up to 150 Cardinals and 1,000 Bishops were expected to concelebrate the Mass, and at least a million were expected to attend.

People present at the canonization:

98 delegations of States or international organizations 19 Heads of State and 24 Heads of Government

• Liechtenstein
  • Prince Hans-Adam II of Liechtenstein

• Andorra
  • Joan Enric Vives Sicilia, co-prince of Andorra

• Belgium
  • Albert II of Belgium, former king
  • Paola Ruffo di Calabria, former queen

• Spain
  • King Juan Carlos I of Spain
  • Queen Sofía of Spain

• Hungary
  • János Áder, President
  • Viktor Orbán, Prime Minister

• Slovakia
  • Ivan Gašparovič, President
  • Robert Fico, Prime Minister

• Paraguay
  • Horacio Cartes, President

• Lithuania
  • Dalia Grybauskaite, President
  • Algirdas Butkevicius, Prime Minister

• Lebanon
  • Michel Sleiman, President
  • Tammam Salam, Prime Minister

• Kosovo
  • Atifete Jahjaga, President

• Honduras
  • Juan Orlando Hernández, President

• Equatorial Guinea
  • Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President

• Gabon
  • Ali Bongo Ondimba, President

• Salvador
  • Mauricio Funes, President

• Ecuador
  • Rafael Correa, President

• Croatia
  • Ivo Josipovic, President
  • Zoran Milanovic, Prime Minister

• Cameroon
  • Paul Biya, President

• Bulgaria
  • Rosen Plevneliev, President
  • Plamen Oresharski, Prime Minister

• Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Bakir Izetbegovic, President

• Argentina
  • Julián Domínguez, President of the Chamber of Deputies

• Mexico
  • Angélica Rivera, first lady

• USA
  • John Podesta, Special Advisor to the President

• Ireland
  • Enda Kenny, Prime Minister

• France
  • Manuel Valls, Prime Minister
  • Bernadette Chirac, former first lady
  • François Fillon, former Prime Minister
  • Charles Revet, Senator and President of Ain ​​France-Holy group the Senate
  • Xavier Breton, Member of Parliament and President of Ain ​​France-Holy group the National Assembly

• European Union
  • Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council
  • José Manuel Durão Barroso, President of the European Commission

• Italy
  • Giorgio Napolitano, President
  • Clio Maria Bittoni, first lady
  • Matteo Renzi, Prime Minister

• Poland
  • Bronislaw Komorowski, President
  • Anna Komorowska, first lady
  • Donald Tusk, Prime Minister
  • Aleksander Kwasniewski, former President
  • Jolanta Kwasniewska, former first lady
  • Lech Walesa, former president
  • Danuta Walesa, former first lady
  • Ewa Kopacz, president of the Sejm
  • Bogdan Borusewicz, President of the Senate

• Zimbabwe
  • Robert Mugabe, President

• Luxembourg
  • Henri of Luxembourg, Grand Duke

• Slovenia
  • Borut Pahor, President
  • Alenka Bratušek, Prime Minister

I wrote about this the other day, but since then I have read a lot about what Pope John XXIII did for the Church (both as Pope and before) and he seems along the same lines as Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis. It did surprise me that the US sent some unknown advisor rather than the President, Vice-President or some member of Congress to an event for such great people. Regardless, the event has strengthen the Catholic Church and I hope the memory of these two great, modern Popes can help Pope Francis continue his work in the Vatican and around the world. ^

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canonization_of_Pope_John_XXIII_and_Pope_John_Paul_II