When did the Catholics start having all the fun eh??
While Gods messenger on earth sat slumped like a turnip in a barrow full of spuds, 'struggling for breath', he got to beatify some stiffs. Now in the side box it says that Beatification (how fully awesome is that word) requires that a miracle have occurred.
Yet I went to Italian-born (and mystic) nun Maria Ludovica De Angelis' write up on the Vatican website and it doesn't mention anything about a miracle. Which I, albeit being a mere unbeliever, assumed would be rather important. This seems to be the only thing the individual themselves have to do to be considered for Beatification.
And yet, nothing.
Now I'm not saying that she wasn't a top lass. But rules are rules, and
these are Gods rules.
Well they probably are, I don't know a lot about the Catholic faith, maybe there was a Saint who got the Beatification process explained to him one day over lamb.
So then I looked up French monk Joseph-Marie Cassant, lo and behold, his Vatican write up contains no mention of a miracle either. In fact, this guy basically did nothing other than be a nice guy. I quote "The sheer ordinariness of his life has been noted by some".
So now we get on to Frenchman Pierre Vigne who founded an order of nuns, again, no mention of a miracle. Sorry peeps. It does mention that his dad was an "honest textile merchant" which is good . . . but miraculous. . . I'm erring on the side of no.
The Pope it would seem, is just getting his own back at God. "The pope has now beatified some 1,340 people, more than all his predecessors combined, Reuters news agency says." I don't blame him. The poor guys a wreck. He probably thought that when he was ordained he would get it easy. After all, he is basically Gods squash partner. He's got about a gamillion people praying for him and he still needs somebody to wipe his mouth. God wont heal him, but he wont let him die either. The poor guy just keeps on getting rolled out every time the Vatican has something to say.
I'm all for the pope. He knew what he wanted to do and he went for it. But now he's just a frustrated old man, mumbling his way through speech after speech. Beatification is probably his little way of having fun. He can hardly do a bungee jump to raise money for a school, nor can he join in a sponsored Macarena.
You have to make fun for yourself wherever you can find it. So if the pope wants to keep on pushing the boundaries of Beatification, then I'm all for him.
He must have sat there going "ohhh, let me think, a guy that didn't do anything and a mystic!! Oh yeah, that's a good one!"
Then when this furore from this ceremony has settled down, a little grin will draw itself across his face as he laughs and thinks, "I've got it! A litigator and a modern artist! That should turn the Basilica into a hoot."