GUATEMALA, Jul 30, 02 (CWNews.com) - Pope John Paul II presided at the canonization of Pedro de San Jose Betancur on Tuesday in Guatemala.
An estimated 350,000 people were on hand for the ceremony. Families began to arrive shortly after midnight, and the crowds grew steadily until the ceremony began. Thousands of other people lined the streets to see the Pope as his motorcade drove through the city.
Although Pedro de San Jose Betancur was born in Spain, the people of Guatemala claim him as their own. The newly canonized saint, after traveling through Central America upon his arrival in the New World, reached Guatemala and announced: «This is where I am going to live and die.» He is also revered as a forceful defender of the rights of native Indian peoples.
In his homily, Pope John Paul said that the canonization should be a reminder, to all of Guatemala's people, of the need to provide help for those in need. He pointed out that the country has many such needy people, mentioning unschooled children, orphans, crime victims, drug addicts, the aged and the elderly.
The Holy Father also addressed himself specifically to the Indians who make up 60 percent of the Guatemala's population, saying that he had great admiration for their traditional culture, and urging them to «overcome through hope the often difficult situations that you encounter.»
The Pope added that native peoples have the right to live in justice and peace, with full respect for their culture and their rights to participate in economic development. That message struck a chord with reporters from the Central American region, who noted that the congregation for the ceremony included the presidents of El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, and the Dominican Republic as well as Guatemala. The Pope took advantage of their presence to call upon the governments of the region to work for justice «in a spirit of pardon and of mercy.»
Pedro de San Jose Betancur was born in Spain in 1625, and moved to the New World in 1650-- staying in Cuba for one year before taking up residence in Guatemala. He became a secular (Third Order) Franciscan in 1655, and set up an infirmary where he provided poor families with instruction in reading and writing, as well as medical care.
As his work expanded, Brother Pedro called his growing clinic the Bethlehem Hospital-- naming it after the oratory there, which he called the «Little House of Our Lady of Bethlehem.» He was the founder of the first religious order native to the Americas, the Bethlemite Brothers, whose constitutions were approved by the Holy See just a few months after his death in 1667.
In July 1771, Pope Clement XIV approved a decree that Brother Pedro had lived a life of heroic virtue, and in 1980-- after the authentication of a miracle attributed to his intercession-- he was beatified by Pope John Paul II.
During the canonization ceremony, Pope John Paul appeared markedly more tired than he had seemed to be during his appearances at the World Youth Day ceremonies in Toronto over the weekend. He read his entire homily at the canonization Mass-- in a clear voice, although the words were often blurred as the Pontiff struggled with the symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
After the ceremony, the Pope headed for Mexico, the final stop on his trip to the Americas. He will rest for the remainder of the day after the 2-hour flight to Mexico City.
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30. juli 2002