A rare event will take place in the Catholic community Sunday-Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII will be declared saints. It is believed that this is the first time two popes have been canonized on one day, and some Aggies decided they didn’t want to miss out on such an occasion.
Timothy Walker, Class of 2012, and Annie Salinas, junior history major, joined with Aggie Catholic friends and supporters to raise enough money for a trip to Rome to see the event live alongside fellow Catholics from around the world.
After a year of fundraising, they were able to reach their goal and left for Italy on Thursday.
As a sponsor and close friend of Walker and Salinas, Daniel Kaufman, sophomore chemical engineering major, said the two were ecstatic to be able to go.
“Annie considers herself John Paul II’s biggest fan, so she was just thrilled,” Kaufman said.
Other groups of Catholic Aggies will gather for a viewing party of the canonization at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, said Madeline Hill, sophomore psychology major.
Hill works as a student worker at St. Mary’s and said the canonization is very exciting, but most Catholic Aggies will probably celebrate the occasion by going to their regular weekly masses at St. Mary’s, where the congregation will most likely say a special prayer in honor of the new saints.
Robert Mackin, assistant professor of sociology, said this event is very meaningful to Catholics everywhere.
“I think it is very significant,” Mackin said. “In both cases – both for Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII – Pope Francis has decided to advance them in the process so that they can be canonized on the same day.”
It is very rare for two popes to be canonized at the same time on the same day, and Mackin said what makes the event even more rare is that Pope Francis pushed for the canonizations out of usual guidelines. Pope John Paul II is technically being canonized early, foregoing the usual five-year waiting period, and Pope John XXIII is being canonized with only one miracle being attributed to him rather than the traditional two.
For a miracle to be attributed to the saint in question, Mackin said there is usually a formal, debate-like process that involves both Catholics and non-Catholics, along with the exhibition of what seems to be indisputable evidence of a miracle and often involved mysterious healing.
Mackin said he has heard many of his own Catholic students say they are very excited about the event, especially to see the pope of their childhood become canonized.
The canonization will take place at 2:30 a.m. central time this “Divine Mercy Sunday” – a term coined by Pope John Paul as the Sunday following Easter.