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Pope's Coffin Will Be Exhumed for Beatification

Faithful will be able to pray before it at John Paul's May ceremony

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 18, 2011 6:14 PM CST

(Newser) – The coffin of John Paul II will be exhumed for his beatification ceremony in May, reports Reuters. It will remain closed, but the faithful will be able to pray before it at the Vatican. About a million people are expected at the ceremony—which will bring John Paul one step closer to sainthood—and the Vatican is warning its flock in the meantime to watch out for online scam artists selling tickets. The event is free, and none are needed. John Paul was fast-tracked for beatification last month.

In in this Feb. 17, 2004 file photo, Pope John Paul II breaks into a long laugh at the Vatican.
In in this Feb. 17, 2004 file photo, Pope John Paul II breaks into a long laugh at the Vatican.   (AP Photo/Massimo Sambucetti, File)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 99 comments
Bartmaeus
Feb 21, 2011 3:22 AM CST
This vicious animus against Catholics, by such people as consider themselves intelligent, tolerant, and reasonable, is in truth the very same sanctimonious and self-righteous spirit that motivates the violence against Jews and Christians in the Moslem world. No wonder the very same voices support Moslem fundamentalism. Like the National Organisation for Women with the placards, "We are all Hezbollah" in 2006. Trust Newser to keep manipulating the hatred and contempt of these blind clowns. Such fools as hailed Hitler, Lenin, Stalin, Chairman Mao, and other brutes, as heroes of the People. Such as consider themselves open-minded. Open all right--to all the foul spirits of divisiveness and evil. Idiots.
summerfairy
Feb 19, 2011 4:42 PM CST
"Pope's Coffin Will Be Exhumed for Beatification" This is seriously creepy to me. It seems like everything the CC does is just over the top creepy.
Bart
Feb 19, 2011 3:57 PM CST
Well, I emailed the vatican. You can get their address here: http://www.tldm.org/email/vatican_emails.htm I told them that if they let me take the pope's corpse out for a walk, dance it around for a while in St. Peter's Square, and stuff him into a chair at a cafe while I have lunch, I'd convert to Catholicism. I promised to have him back and safely nestled in his coffin in an hour or two none the worse for wear. I'm anxious to hear back from them before they put the body in a big pot and make him into Pope Soup, or whatever they do with a rotting corpse of an old shaman.

 
Catholic Church • Vatican • Catholicism • Pope John Paul II • beatification • sainthood

 
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