jp-XXX to be declared a Saint

I mean JPII. Pope John Paul II. That guy. He'll be declared a Saint. Today. That is all.

 

Pope xXx?

 

I don't get Catholicism. I really don't.

 

I would like to declare jp-30 the first resident saint of the jc.

 

He didn't become a Saint, he was beautified or something, because a miracle was attributed to him since his death.

 

Well, that's going to be a hard act to follow for the new Pope. Let's see him pull a miracle out of his Holy whatchamacalit...

 

He's not becoming a saint, he's being beatified. That's a one step lower than a saint. It would be way too soon after his death to go with the canonization (and beatification always precedes canonization). Even the beatification was fast-tracked; it's been what, six years since he died?

 

I'm no expert on hagiography, but I know that the previous pope was beautified post-mortem, as indicated by this touching commentary by Clive (Peter Cook). (Warning: foul language, bad taste, themes of homosexual necrophilia, extremely offensive to catholics).

 

Welcome to my life.

 

He should be Beattyfied.

 

Define "Saint".

 

Insisting that people in nations dying from HIV not use condoms (under threat of eternal damnation).

Covering up for and playing a shell game with priests that molest children.

Being visibly pious.

 

Oh no no, I knew all that. I wanted to know what the definition for Saint is as designated by those who wish to be Saints.

 

A 'Saint' is anybody that's in heaven. Being canonized means that the Church officially asserts that you /are/ in Heaven. The Church makes no assertion that any particular person is in hell, and in fact it's not considered the right of any human to make that judgment.

Canonized Saints are thought to have proven their salvation to humanity by interceding on the behalf of living people (via miracles). Basically, a Saint is like an OT (in Scientology); the only difference is that Scientology claims you can become one while still alive, and Catholics insist you can only go OT after you die. In both cases, the church asserts with its own authority that the person has become an OT.

The fact that Catholics insist you can only go OT after you die lends them greater credibility than Scientology, because you can't actually put a dead soul in a test chamber and measure their increased powers. When you take living OTs and test them, you find they really don't have any significant advantages over any other human being at performing any task.

 

Via miracles. Ah. I caught a blurp about this the other day. Something about the previous Pope curing various illnesses that have no cure.

 

Correct and considering that cannonization can take centuries, to go from death to beatification in six years is probably a record.

 

JPII change the rules on canonization in order to facilitate exactly this process. The Canonization of Mother Teresa - who was herself a vile figure - was the driving political force behind the changes.

 

What happens if the person is declared a saint but isn't in heaven?

 

Why do you classify her as "vile?"

 

Well, there's this

amongst other complaints.

Personally I wouldn't call her vile so much as well-intentioned but misguided.

 

The Pope, The Board And The Invitation

Hello, help.

 

I was wondering if it was anything outside those charges, which I had heard previously. I would mostly agree with your assessment. While it's certainly not good, I can't see how one credibly construes a lack of skill as maliciousness.

 

i think it's more likely that he read the hitchens book.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Missionary_Position_%28book%29

and man, i had forgotten how quickly our old pope thread descended into complete chaos. good times.