Benedict XVI says he knew long ago John Paul II was a saint

April 24, 2014

Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI has said that he was conscious of living with a saint during the years when he worked with Pope John Paul II.

Breaking from the silence that he has generally observed since his resignation, the former Pontiff spoke about the upcoming canonization of his predecessor in an interview with the Polish journalist Wlodzimierz Redzioch. He said that his working relationship with Pope John Paul II “was always marked by friendship and affection.”

As time passed, Benedict said, “it was ever clearer to me that John Paul II was a saint.” He spoke in particular of “the intensity of his prayer, which was profoundly rooted in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist,” and his “great love for the Mother of God.”

 

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Further information:

• Benedict XVI: I knew during his life that John Paul II was a saint (CNA)