do you think that pope john paul II has cheapened the saints' lists?

Question

he had proclaimed more saints in his 20 plus years of papacy than all his predecessors had, combined.

Answer 1

in canonizing a great number of the members of the catholic church, john paul II has proclaimed what has always been true - that sainthood is attainable by anyone who commits themselves to the service of god and his church. heaven isn't just for "augustine" and "aquinas" and "francis" and "teresa" and "peter" and "paul". if it was, i'd be in deep trouble, for i will likely never achieve the level of profound spirituality they achieved in their lifetimes. but jp2 showed us that there are a great many exceptionally holy people who were not apostles, or founders of orders, or writers of scripture, or popes, or visionaries, or doctors of the church. people like you and me, who didn't have the stigmata, didn't perform miracles, didn't levitate or bilocate, but who were simply hard working, dedicated, faithful, commited, holy catholics. that's what is required to become a saint. nothing more.

Answer 2

First of all, let me tell you that I am an Atheist. In case you're one of those evangelical people, like the person who said that the Pope is in hell because he wasn't saved, an Atheist is someone who does not believe in a higher power, God or otherwise, and not someone who chooses not to believe in God, therefore proving he exists.

The Pope's only title through-out history has been "Christ's Vicar on Earth", meaning that he is a direct descendant of St. Peter, the first Pope, who Christ chose as the rock on which to build his Church. The Pope is chosen by the wisest officials of the Catholic Church to lead the Christian world, and is for all intents and purposes, the holiest man on the planet.

All non-Catholics, well, you might as well be in the same boat as I am, because what Protestants have done over the years is change and manipulate the Church for their better convenience, and I'm sure that if God did exist, as far as he would be concerned, the Catholic Church, the first Church, would be the real one.

Back on subject, as Christ's Vicar on Earth, the Pope can make anyone he sees fit a Saint. John Paul II was in fact the first "media Pope", as in he came along right as the television age began to boom. He travelled the world more than any other Pope, and of his 600 + predecessors, his time in office outlived them all, save 2 or 3.

Unless you're a complete fool, you know that as time progresses, people do as well. Our culture and society has become almost completely devoid of values in a time as short as half a century. John Paul II sought to find good people in the world, and use their example to inspire others, and yes, he did this more than any other Pope before him.

This hasn't cheapened the list of Saints at all, it's only made it longer, which is an inspiration to some of those who feel that there is no hope for the upcoming generation, and that our world has been lost to the unfaithful.

EDIT: I would personally like to see your evidence of Mother Theresa and John Paul II, two of the most revered people to have ever lived, and two of the most recognized CHRISTIANS of the 20th century, let alone history, not being Christians. Please, please, oh your-God, please give me evidence of this because I'd like to think that as adults, you two Fundy's are not completely insane, just misguided due to something you have read.

Answer 3

No.

Canonization is very involved process involving at least two miracles.

Saints are people in heaven or on their way to heaven. All Christians dead and alive are saints.

The Catholic Church selects some of the most extraordinary examples, does in-depth research, and canonizes them.

Canonization is the solemn declaration by the Pope that a deceased member of the faithful may be proposed as a model and intercessor (not mediator) to the Christian faithful on the basis of the fact that the person lived a life of heroic virtue or remained faithful to God through martyrdom.

Here is the modern method of canonization:

In order to allow greater objectivity and less emotion, no petition for sainthood can be made until at least 5 years after the candidate’s death.

+ Diocesan Investigation +

A diocese, parish, religious congregation, or association asks the bishop of the diocese in which the candidate died to open the investigation. After Vatican approval, the bishop forms a diocesan tribunal.

Witnesses are called before the tribunal to recount the candidate’s heroic exercise of Christian virtues. All documents regarding the candidate must be gathered.

At this point he is entitled to the title of Servant of God.

+ Vatican Investigation +

All documentation is passed on to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints at the Vatican.

The cause undergoes an examination by nine theologians.

If passed, the cause is for examined by the Congregation.

If passed, the cause is presented to the Pope for approval. A decree is published and read publicly.

+ Beatification +

A miracle attributed to the Servant of God is necessary.

The miracle must be proven through an appropriate investigation and another decree is issued.

Then the Pope decides on beatification.

With beatification, the candidate receives the title of Blessed.

+ Canonization +

Another miracle occurring after beatification is needed for canonization (sainthood), attributed to the Blessed’s intercession.

This miracle must again be proven through an appropriate investigation.

Papal infallibility is involved with canonization.

The Blessed acquires the title of Saint.

http://www.usccb.org/comm/SaintsFinal.pdf

+ With love in Christ.

Answer 4

It just shows how ridiculous faith can get, there are no other pope who has proclaimed so many saints as John Paul II. It's interesting to see how people wanna honour the dead more than God.

You may find this link interesting:

http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/index_saints_en.html

Answer 5

The Bible says that all genuine born again Christians are Saints.

So it really doesn't matter how a man changed a man made list, does it?

As the 2nd person who answered this question pointed out, I too have never read anything said by JP 2 which indicates that he was Christian.

He was a religionist and a roman catholic, but he was not a Christian in the Biblical sense of the word.

When he lived through an assassination attempt, he did not give thanks to God or to Jesus, he thanked Mary.

His coat of arms gave praise to Mary, not God, not Jesus.

The recent book of Mother Thersa's letters also indicates that she was not a Christian either.

Which is very sad.

What's worse is how so many will follow them into the pit.

We can't earn our salavation. Salvation is a free gift, provided by God for us. Salvation was not free to Jesus, He gave his life to pay for it, but it is free to us.

Pastor Art

Answer 6

I dont agree with the view that Saints exceeded God's moral demands and the excess righteousness of their goes into the treasury of the church. It is too contrary to the words of Jesus to the apostles "in the end you are unprofitable servants" which speaks of grace not merit earned

John Paul II had his ups and downs

He defended a pretty orthodox view of Jesus being fully GOd and fully man... good
He was a strong pro life position.. good
He admitted the Catholic church may have made a mistake burning Hus... good

He was a Mary Maximalist and when he was shot cried out to Mary first.... bad
He felt the arms race threatened the sovereignty of GOd... bad
He capitulated to evolution... bad

hard to say about his saints list. Most likely he left off St William TYndale and St Jonathan Edwards and St Martin Luther After all, Jesus said last shall be first and first shall be last

Answer 7

Well, given the failure of the team to get to the Super Bowl, losing to a Bears team that may have been grossly overrated, I have to say that yes, JPII cheapened the Saints.
His substitutions at cornerback proved especially damaging in the second half during last season's final play-off contest, and I think we can all agree that handing the ball off to Mother Theresa instead of Reggie Bush was a biggggg mistake.

Answer 8

He cheapened the entire church by populating it with cardinals holding 14th century views and stamped out liberation theology.

Bishop Romero was murdered in El Salvador and you barely heard a peep, but when a Polish priest was beaten to death, the Vatican made sure all the news outlets stayed on top of it.

The only good I can say about JP2 is he issued his statement in support of biological evolution.

Beyond that, he was living centuries before his time.

Answer 9

Saints are most useful when they are alive.

Too bad the church chooses to wait until they are dead before recognizing their exceptional qualities.

The far east has a better system... the saints are usually recognized while they still have the voice to reach out and help people with their problems.

Answer 10

They all still had to go through the same process to be declared. The computer age and modern bookkeeping has sped up the process. Yay, I got to legitimately use a word with 3 consecutive double letters !