http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/28/world/europe/John-XXIII-and-John-Paul-II-become-saints-in-historic-canonizations.html?ref=world&_r=0

Yesterday, Pope Francis made history by declaring two of his papal predecessors as saints. Something that has never been done before in a dual setting. We have talked in class about how religion is one of the many sources of conflict that we see throughout the world but with the canonization of the two premiere members of the Catholic church during the twentieth century, religion can also be a unifying factor in the world. No matter what conflicts or travesties happen to us in the world of international affairs and politics, at least for these two men, John XXIII and John Paul II, they over came all of it. As Francis said yesterday during his homily, "“They lived through the tragic events of that century, but they were not overwhelmed by them. For them, God was more powerful; faith was more powerful.” Most of us were very young when John Paul II was pope, I personally still remember when he died but he particularly had a strong influence in the world of politics. Being the first Polish pope, he was considered a hero and a leader in the fight against Communism during the twentieth century. While John XXIII was very liberal compared to John Paul II, the canonization was not to focus on their differences but to bridge the differences of the Catholic church, a historic unification seen throughout the world.

-Max Kachinske