Beatification day

They say that there's room in the Piazza of Saint Peter's Basilica to accommodate at least 50,000 individuals.  If that's true, then there were at least twice that many trying to fight their way into the same space, not to mention others who filled all the surrounding streets.

Organizers did not issue tickets for this event as they normally do for audiences and other such public occasions, and yet there were reserved seats set aside for the VIPs who had been invited, and for the priests who would be involved in the distribution of communion.  Aerial shots portrayed a sea of white as the priests all gathered, dressed in their albs and white stoles.  This contrasted against the light colours of the vestments worn by bishops and others who were positioned closer to the action.

Then there was the seemingly interminable sea of faithful who filled all the streets around Saint Peters.  The undulating crowd resembled a river, gently flowing through the streets of the city.  All was ready for the celebration to begin.

Once the procession had made its way into the piazza and all were in their places, the liturgy began.  Following the established norms, the introductory rites proceeded until the Kyrie had been voiced, then the formulae proper for Beatification were pronounced.  In this case the Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome, Agostino Cardinal Vallini, assisted by the postulator (the priest who has been charged with overseeing the documentation of the Beatification process for John Paul II, formally petitioned the Holy Father to proceed with the Beatification of the Servant of God.  Cardinal Vallini's address (in translation):

Most Holy Father, your Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome humbly asks Your Holiness to inscribe among those numbered as Blessed, the Venerable Servant of God, John Paul II, Pope.

For his part, the Holy Father then pronounced the words of the Formula of Beatification:

We welcome the desire voiced by our brother Agostino Cardinal Vallini, Our Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome, by many other brothers in the Episcopate and by many of the faithful, and having received the counsel of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, with Our Apostolic Authority, We concede that the Venerable Servant of God John Paul II, Pope from this moment onward will be called Blessed and that his his feast may be celebrated according to the established norms of law each year on October 22.  In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

So said, so done.  The assembly sang the Amen, and then burst into exhuberant cheers and applause.  Then the newly proclaimed Blessed's relic was solemnly paraded to its place of honor and placed upon a small altar which had been set up for this purpose.  Finally, the Vicar General for Rome thanked the Holy Father for his solicitude and for having responded favorably to the voiced request for Beatification:

Most Holy Father, the Vicar General of Your Holiness for the Diocese of Rome thanks Your Holiness for having today proclaimed Blessed the Venerable Servant of God John Paul II, Pope.

Then the Vicar General and the Postulator exchanged a gesture of greeting and peace with the Holy Father, even as the first strains of the Gloria were being entoned.  And onward went the liturgy.