Word: vaticans
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...book by the priest in charge of the Vatican's official case for Pope John Paul II's sainthood is packed with fascinating - and, apparently, meticulously verified - revelations. The one that grabbed most of the headlines was the claim that John Paul whipped himself with a belt, an act of corporal penitence designed to draw the flagellator closer to Christ's suffering, and one that is usually associated with a very distant century, or a Dan Brown novel...
...some members of his close entourage in Poland and in the Vatican were able to hear, John Paul flagellated himself," writes Monsignor Slawomir Oder, the Polish prelate who collected testimony in his role as "postulator" for the Pope's canonization. "In his armoire, amid all the vestments and hanging on a hanger, was a belt which he used as a whip." (See pictures of President Obama meeting Pope Benedict...
...John Paul, as we know, went on to serve for life, despite a very public battle with the debilitating effects of Parkinson's disease. By all accounts, he had all his mental faculties up until his April 2005 death. Still, behind closed doors, top Vatican officials had been debating the implications of John Paul's declining physical condition, including his grave difficulties in speaking. Others have noted that as the Pope became weaker, infighting and maneuvering escalated among some of his deputies. Cardinal Ratzinger never openly questioned John Paul's decision to stay on, though some reports cited his concerns...
...Church leaders have sought to reassure their Jewish counterparts both inside and outside of Italy, with some even urging the Vatican to postpone the Pope's long-scheduled visit to the early 20th century Great Synagogue of Rome. The Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, said that the "heroic virtue" designation that came with Pius being given the title "venerable" last month - the first step toward his beatification and eventual sainthood - is not a historical verdict but an internal religious evaluation. Lombardi also emphasized how much the church treasures its rapport with the Jews, and said that the study...
...Although he has not personally seen the documents in the Holy See archives, one senior Vatican official tells TIME that he is confident that Pius would not have been elevated to venerable status without solid evidence in the records showing he had tried his best to save Jews during the Holocaust, either by sheltering them or by not issuing a public papal denunciation, which could have just accelerated the killings. "We also need to try to see those events as they were being lived at the time, and be much more understanding about the value in the prudence that...