Stronger Pope canonises three missionaries

AMID African singing and dancing, a slightly stronger-looking Pope John Paul II yesterday canonised three men who worked as missionaries in the 19th century.

Although he looked better than on Saturday, the Pope, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, read only the Italian part of his homily, while a cardinal read the German part.

This was apparently to help the 83-year-old Pontiff, bedecked in gold vestments, conserve his strength for the rest of the ceremony for tens of thousands of people in an overcast St Peter’s Square.

There have been growing fears recently for the health of the Roman Catholic leader, who can no longer walk without assistance and has struggled to speak at some public appearances.

However, his words were much clearer yesterday than they were on Saturday when he appeared particularly tired during a meeting with Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams.

At the end of the two-and-a-half hour ceremony, the pope said that “God willing” he would make a planned trip tomorrow to a shrine in Pompeii. His chair was then placed on an open “popemobile” and driven through the crowd.

Yesterday’s ceremony brought to 476 the number of people the pope has canonised, more than all of his predecessors combined since the current saint-making process began in the 16th century, according to Vatican figures.

The three new saints, an Italian, a German and an Austrian, were instrumental in the evangelisation of Africa and China.

The most famous was Daniele Comboni, who worked as a missionary in Sudan before founding the order of priests that carries his name. Another is Arnold Janssen, who began the Divine Word Missionaries. The third is Josef Freinademetz, born in 1852.