MADRID,
May 4 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - One million Christian
worshippers flocked to central Madrid on Sunday, May 4, for a huge open
air mass where Pope John Paul II canonized five new Spanish saints as
well as renewing his call for world peace.
The
82-year-old pontiff arrived shortly before 8:00 (GMT) for the ceremony,
which the organizers had hoped would draw a record attendance from
across the historically Catholic country. He was greeted with a roar of
approval from the crowd, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.
Entire
families had set up camp in the Spanish capital's Colon square, spending
Saturday, May 3, night in the open to await the canonization mass, the
highlight of the pope's two-day visit.
To
cries of "Long live the pope" and "John Paul II,
everybody loves you", the pontiff took place at a giant altar
flanked by several hundred priests, behind which a vast canvas depicting
the five new Spanish saints was stretched.
Wearing
white and gold robes and speaking in Spanish, the pope read out the
names of the new Spanish saints, who include priest Pedro Poveda
Castroverde, who was executed aged 61 in the opening days of the
1936-1939 Spanish civil war.
The
other four saints are a Jesuit, Jose Maria Rubio Peralta, and three nuns
-- Genoveva Torres Morales, Angela de la Cruz and Maria Maravillas de
Jesus, all of whom died during the last century.
John
Paul II has beatified a total of 471 victims of the Spanish civil war.
Castroverde was the 11th victim of the civil war to be proclaimed a
saint.
‘Pray
For Peace’
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Thousands
of Spanish were listening to the Pope as the canonization runs
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Sunday's
canonization came at a time when more and more Spaniards are asking for
greater light to be shed on the events of the civil war and the 40 years
of dictatorship under Francisco Franco that followed.
Spain's
King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia and conservative Prime Minister Jose
Maria Aznar were present for the ceremony, in a square dedicated to
Christopher Columbus, the explorer who discovered the Americas in 1492.
The
pope appealed to his Spanish audience to uphold the values of
Christianity. "Do not abandon your Christian values. That is the
only way you will be able to contribute your rich cultural heritage to
the world and to Europe," he said.
"The
Catholic faith is the identity of the Spanish people," he said, as
his image was beamed onto two giant television screens in Colon square.
The
Vatican says 94 percent of Spaniards are Catholic although observers
report that church attendance is declining in the country, AFP said.
Many
among the crowd wore yellow neckties marked with the name of their
favorite saint among those being honored.
Central
Madrid was cordoned off for the occasion, with 5,000 police officers and
10,000 volunteers mobilized to ensure security.
Later
on Sunday, the pope was due to end his fifth official visit to Spain
with an audience with the royal family, before heading back to the
Vatican in the evening.
On
Saturday, the pope had urged an estimated 600,000 cheering young people
at a rally outside Madrid to "respond to blind violence and human
hatred with the power of love".
"We
all know that peace is above all a gift from God ... and we must pray
for peace with insistence," said the pope, who fervently opposed
the U.S.-led war against Iraq.
But
the pontiff appeared worn out from the previous day's exertion and had
to be carried up to the altar. This visit to Spain was the pope's first
foreign trip after a nearly nine-month gap caused by health problems.
When
the pope arrived on Saturday, King Juan Carlos had welcomed him as
"a tireless defender of the most noble causes".
During
his visit, the pope also met Aznar, a staunch supporter of the U.S.-led
war on Iraq. Aznar's spokesman said the subject of the Iraq war did not
come up during the private audience.
