The canonization of two Popes is an occasion for the Catholic Church to flatter itself and its followers after a long series of shameful scandals and cover-ups.

On the cover of its 1 April 2002 issue, Time magazine depicted an illustration of Pope John Paul with his back turned to the viewer as he hid his face with his hands, in shame, after the full scale of the sex abuse scandals in the Church came to light.

John Paul did not have the inner vision that saints and mystics allegedly have to be aware of the sexual abuse that was being perpetrated by Catholic priests during his pontificate. Or else, he knew what was going on but chose to keep it secret in order to avoid scandal. In the meantime, abusive priests kept being transferred from one parish or diocese to another.

John Paul did not perform any miracles while he was alive, not even to heal himself of a debilitating illness. It was pathetic to see him drooling at his Vatican window during his final illness. It’s absurd to believe that he can heal the living now that he’s dead!

Neither did Pope John XIII perform any miracles. The Church, in fact, waived the requirement of a miracle for his canonization. 

Canonization, with its dubious “miracles”, is nowadays bestowed so often that it is nothing more than an earthly honour.

John Guillaumier

St Julian’s