Rome prepares for beatification of John Paul II

According to preliminary information, to participate in a ceremony in the Italian capital will come about 300 000 people. Currently, occupancy of Rome hotels is around 80%. Thus, people wishing to take part in the ceremony of beatification can still count on the availability.
Hotels in Rome have already declared that, despite the growing number of tourists, they do not intend to raise prices for their services. It is worth noting that, in addition to Rome hotels pilgrims can stay at few campsites on the outskirts of the Eternal City.

Beatification in the Catholic Church is a process of including of the deceased to the ranks of the blessed. According to established rules, the next step after the beatification is canonization.

Including of John Paul II to the ranks of the blessed is carried out under new rules established by the current Pope Benedict XIV. Among them, a prerequisite is the fact of the miracle that occurred after the death of a candidate for prayers for him.

The official ceremony of beatification is scheduled for May 1, 2011. It will be preceded by presentation of commemorative medals in honor of the event, which will be held on April 29.

John Paul II, taking into account all his ambiguity, remains a figure of historic importance. Being a conservative and supporter of strict Catholic rules, including celibacy, prohibition of contraception, abortion and homosexuality, he earned the respect of many believers around the world by his policy of repentance. For the first time in the history of world religions the Catholic Church in the person of John Paul II has publicly asked forgiveness for its sins, including the persecution of Jews, the division of church and religious wars, crusades and justifying wars theological doctrines, contempt for minorities and the poor, as well as justification of slavery. At the time of John Paul II were rehabilitated excommunicated from the church such great scientists as Galileo and Copernicus.

John Paul II promoted establishment of interfaith relations among the religions of the world. He became the first pope, crossing the threshold of the synagogue and mosque, as well as the first head of the Roman Catholic Church visited Greece after the split of the Christian Church in 1054.