Pilgrims attend a prayer vigil at the ancient Circus Maximus in Rome April 30, 2011 the eve of the beatification of Pope John Paul II. Today April 27, 2014, Pope Francis will preside over the celebration which will declare both Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII saints. (CNS photo/Alessia Pierdomenico, Reuters)  ...read more

Pope John Paul II prays in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. Paul John Paul died later that year on April 2, 2005. (CNS photo/Reuters)  ...read more

The Milewski family greets Pope John Paul II at the door of their modest house in Wigry, Poland, June 8, 1999. The pontiff made an unexpected visit to the home on his day of respite during a 13-day visit to his homeland. (CNS photo by Arturo Mari) ...read more

Pope John Paul II is pictured during a 1986 interfaith prayer gathering in the Italian town of Assisi. (CNS file photo/KNA)  ...read more

Pope John Paul II gestures during his 1980 visit to Paris, France. (CNS photo/Catholic Press Photo)  ...read more

  Pope John Paul II greets youths at the 44th International Eucharistic Congress in Seoul, South Korea, in 1989. The congress provided the opportunity for several Asian bishops to meet with the pontiff to discuss urgent human rights and democracy issues. (CNS file photo by Arturo Mari)    ...read more

Before a crowd of over 150,000 people in St. Peter’s Square this morning, April 20, 2014, Pope Francis celebrated the Mass of Easter Sunday. He did not deliver a homily during mass but gave the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” (to the city and the world) Message and Blessing to the crowd at the conclusion of ...read more

With rosary in hand, Pope John Paul II scans the crowd as his helicopter circles Colorado’s Cherry Creek State Park before the closing Mass for World Youth Day Aug. 15, 1993. “Place your intelligence, your talents, your enthusiasm, your compassion and your fortitude at the service of life,” the pope told the hundreds of thousands ...read more

People light candles in Warsaw, Poland, to pay tribute to Pope John Paul II on the second anniversary of his death April 2, 2007. (CNS photo/Katarina Stoltz, Reuters)    ...read more

“JUDAS WAS STANDING WITH THEM” (JN 18:5) Following the tradition, the homily for this afternoon’s Good Friday Service for the Passion of the Lord is preached by Capuchin Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa. In the divine-human history of the passion of Jesus, there are many minor stories about men and women who entered into the ray of ...read more