Friday, the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI set May 1 as the date for Pope John Paul II’s beatification. In other words, that’s when JPII will be recognized as a saint. Two things are worth noting:
- This is the first time a pope beatifies his his immediate predecessor.
- This beatification will be the fastest on record. Previously, that honor went to Mother Teresa.
I checked Newseum to see how newspapers covered this announcement. I’m not surprised that I could only find a handful of newspapers that played it on the front page. It will be a bigger deal when it actually happens, but I wanted to see who played it on the front page, and how. Of course, the four I could find were all in non-English, so it was tough to completely appreciate the coverage. Especially because Google Translate may or may not have led me astray…
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Peru.21
Lima, Peru
According to Google Translate, that headline means, “Road to sainthood.”
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Dziennik Polski
Krakow, Poland
According to Google Translate, that headline says, “John Paul II: Holy.” But after just translating a few headlines, I don’t know how much I trust Google Translate. The subhead on the red banner beneath that headline apparently says, “Already from today you can get to write on the diocesan pilgrimage to Rome.”
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Kurier Poranny
Bialystok, Poland
What Google says it says: “Joint struggle for the construction of eight to Warsaw.” I don’t even know what that means.
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El Nuevo Día
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Google seems to get Spanish, as it says this means, “One step from being a saint.”
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These were the only four newspapers I noticed with a prominent placement of this story on the front page. When the actual beatification takes place, I’ll check again to see how it’s covered.