200 Ugandans to grace canonisation of two popes

The event will be presided over by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. The occasion will be held in St. Peter’s Square on April 27, 2014, a day also known as the Sunday of the Divine Mercy. 
 

The canonisation of the two popes, which is said to be an unprecedented event in the history of the Catholic Church, is expected to attract over five million pilgrims from all over the world. According to Kampala Archdiocese Chancellor Fr. Dr. Joseph Mary Ssebunnya, the Archbishop, Dr. Cyprian Kizito-Lwanga, will lead pilgrims from the different Catholic dioceses in Uganda. 
 

While in Rome, the Ugandan team is expected to visit the popes’ tombs and several places where saints are buried.

Pope John XXIII became pope on October 28, 1958, replacing Pope Pius XII. His pontificate lasted five years and he is remembered as gentle, enterprising and courageous. 
 

His tenure was characterised by visits to prisoners and the sick. He also brought together the Roman Synod, established the Commission for the Revision of the Code of Canon Law and summoned the Second Vatican Council. 
 

Pope John Paul II was elected pope on October, 16 1978 and died in 2005. Many remember him as a warm and charismatic personality who brought positive changes to the Catholic Church. 
 

During his term, he made over 100 pastoral visits, including to Uganda on February 2, 1993. He held more meetings with leaders of nations and members of other churches than any of his predecessors. 
 

Dr. Ssebunnya said upon his election to the papacy, John Paul II became the first pope in almost 100 years to make pastoral visits around his home country, Poland. 
 

He visited 129 countries, met the sick and the incarcerated. He was the second longest serving pope in the history of the Catholic Church and was the first non-Italian since Pope Adrian VI, who died in 1523.

John Paul II significantly improved the Catholic Church’s relations with Judaism, Islam, the Eastern Orthodox Church and Anglican Communion. 
 

He was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on the Sunday of the Divine Mercy on May 1, 2011.

John Paul II’s cause for canonisation commenced in 2005 shortly after his death with the traditional five-year waiting period having been waived. 
 

On December 19, 2009 John Paul II was proclaimed venerable by his successor Pope Benedict XVI and was beatified on May 1, 2011 after the Congregation for the Causes of Saints attributed one miracle to him following the healing of a French nun of Parkinson’s disease. 
 

John XXIII, known particularly for convoking the Second Vatican Council, was pope from 1958 to 1963. 
 

Pope Francis signed a decree recognising the miracle needed for Blessed John Paul’s canonisation on July 5, 2013; the same day the Vatican announced that the pope had agreed with members of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes that the canonisation of Blessed John Paul II should go forward even without a second miracle attributed to his intercession.