Archbishop Diarmuid Martin: 'Saints are not perfect'

The Archbishop of Dublin has described the newly canonised popes John XXIII and John Paul II as men “who in their day to day ordinary lives try heroically to live the Christian life”.

At the Pro Cathedral, Diarmuid Martin yesterday reminded his congregation that saints are neither holy nor “perfect witnesses” as “God alone is the holy one”.

“Saints are not men and women taken out of human history and human realities, but are witnesses as to how we should try to live... They are not perfect witnesses.”