Columnists' (favorable) opinions on beatification of John Paul II

April 29, 2011

While some other columnists complain that John Paul II is being beatified too quickly, Peggy Noonan takes the opposite tack, arguing that the Church should move on promptly to canonize him.

Father James Schall remarks: "I have the impression that every man who ever met John Paul II, especially if he was a man of social, intellectual, or political stature, knew that he was meeting a greater man than he."

Quin Hillyer, in the American Spectator, agrees. After reviewing the life of the late Pope, he finds it impossible to resist the conclusion that he was "one of the greatest men not just of this age, but of any age in recorded history." (Hillyer seems to be under the mistaken impression that this Sunday's ceremony will be a canonization, but leave that aside.)

William Oddie, writing in the Catholic Herald, credits the Polish Pontiff with the beginning of a Catholic recovery from the unhappy fallout of Vatican II. Oddie believes that his most impressive achievement "was that he did more than any pope of the last century to defend and reassert beyond any doubt the stable and objective character of Catholic teaching."

Father James Martin, SJ, tells readers of the Washington Post that although he himself can be classified as a liberal, and was not enthusiastic about everything that Pope John Paul II did, he remains happy with the beatification, because: "We beatify a Christian, not an administrator."

And the ubiquitous John Allen, writing this time for BBC, points out that Pope John Paul II is not the first person to receive "fast-track" treatment from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. There are always reasons for that treatment, he explains, and they apply neatly to this case.

 

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Further information:

• Make Him a Saint (Wall Street Journal)
• Pope John Paul II’s legacy of love (Catholic World Report)
• Saint Wojtyla (American Spectator)
• Sunday’s beatification will be of a holy pope who began the fightback against the smoke of Satan (Catholic Herald)
• Why a liberal Catholic likes Blessed John Paul II (Washington Post)
• John Paul II beatification: Politics of saint-making (BBC)