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Article: Study in contrasts.(beatification of John XXIII and Pius IX)(Brief Article)(Column)
- Article from:
- National Catholic Reporter
- Article date:
- September 15, 2000
- Author:
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John XXIII, `the good pope,' and Pius IX, `pontiff and king,' share the beatification stage in midst of controversy
On a sunny early fall Sunday in Rome, John Paul II did something no other pontiff has ever done: He elevated two of his predecessors in the papacy, Pius IX and John XXIII, into the ranks of the "blessed" at the same time.
Beatification, the formal term for declaring someone blessed, is the final step before sainthood, authorizing prayer and devotion to the person.
Joining John XXIII and Pius IX as new "blesseds" were three lesser-known figures whose lives overlapped the 19th and 20th centuries: Italian bishop Tomasso Reggio, who ...