Six more people beatified

POPE John Paul yesterday added six more people to the ranks of Catholics on the path to possible sainthood, beatifying 19th and 20th century Europeans and South Americans at a ceremony in St Peter’s Square.

Among the six was a paralysed lay woman, Alexandrina Maria da Costa of Portugal, who the Vatican says lived the last 13 years of her life eating only the bread and wine of Communion.

With the six, representing Poland, Colombia, Mexico, Italy, Spain and Portugal, John Paul has beatified 1,330 people during his 25-year pontificate, more than all his predecessors over the past 500 years combined.