Vatican City, 26th August 2005 (CNA)
- Pope John Paul II, who was shot at in 1981
and survived though with many health problems, was
“an authentic martyred Pope,” said the
editor-in-chief of the Vatincan’s daily newspaper,
L’Osservatore Romano.
Mario Agnes told an annual pro-Catholic
political meeting recently that the stones in St.
Peter's Square where John Paul's blood was shed
should be preserved.
"These stones of St. Peter's Square where a
bit of John Paul II's blood fell may be merited,
and certainly merit being preserved as a historic
document, because there fell the blood of an
authentic martyred pope, hit in the full of his
physical vitality, victim of an attack," he was
quoted as saying by ANSA.
"The fact that he didn't die doesn't mean
he wasn't a martyr," Agnes said.
The question of Pope John Paul II’s
martyrdom emerged after Pope Benedict XVI
announced May 13 that the late pontiff was being
put on the fast track to sainthood. If declared a
martyr, a miracle after his death would not be
necessary for his beatification. A miracle would
still be required, however, for his canonization.
Church officials had initially rejected the
suggestion since John Paul lived for 24 years
after the assassination attempt. However, some
Vatican
officials are no longer so reluctant to the idea.
Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, prefect of
the Congregation for the Causes of Saints,
reportedly said last month it was up to
theological experts to decide if the assassination
attempt, as well as his long, public suffering
before he died, warranted a declaration of
martyrdom.
