(By Giovanna Chirri) Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli - the pope who started the Second Vatican Council and died in 1963 - and Karol Wojtyla - who was pontiff during the Cold War and the era of globalization and died in 2005 - will be proclaimed saints on the same day - Sunday - as desired by Pope Francis.
The pontiff dispensed with the requirement for a certified miracle for Rocalli and elegantly overruled Polish requests for Wojtyla to have an exclusive ceremony in order to proclaim them saints at the same time.
This choice pulled the brakes on a certain triumphalism towards Wojtyla among certain Catholic groups, not only from Poland, and highlighted the role played by two great pontiffs of the 20th century and their personal contribution to the life of the Church and the world.
Another notable thing the two late popes have in common is that their agony and death was under everybody's scrutiny and attracted the attention of the public opinion worldwide because both had distinctly acquired a global role and become a point of reference around the world during their pontificates.
As observed by Father Giovanni Sale in Italian Jesuit journal Civilta' Cattolica, Roncalli's canonization comes at an important and significant time in the life of the Church, which over the past few years has been "commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Council he promoted and started".
And the pope has chosen the double canonization considering their role as popes in the history of the 20th century in relation to this event: the great devotion both have inspired can also be connected to the Council.
The sensibility of the Latin American pontiff, who is the first contemporary pontiff not to have taken part in the Second Vatican Council, makes it likely he wishes for a quick beatification of Paul VI.
Evangelii gaudium, the Apostolic exhortation of the pope and in some ways a manifesto of his pontificate, explicitly refers to Paul VI's Evangelii nuntiandi, a key document for the whole Church and in particular for the Council's acceptance in South America.
The sanctity of the popes interpreted in relation to the Council stifles doubts expressed by some over the opportunity of canonizing popes.
One of the first leading Catholics to express doubts was late French Dominican theologian Yves Congar, who had a high opinion of Pope John but was against his canonization by acclamation at the end of the Council.
"Why this canonization of popes by their successors?," said Congar.
"Won't we ever leave old Roman habits behind? Just while renewal is being announced, gestures are made which are not attuned to it?". http://popefrancisnewsapp.com/ (giovanna.chirri@ansa.it)
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