Pope praises virtues of women as he beatifies nun

POPE JOHN PAUL II hailed women for their “sensitivity, generosity and strength” yesterday as he beatified a Croatian nun who devoted her life to poor children.

The 83-year-old Pope, making his landmark 100th foreign pilgrimage, praised the virtues of women everywhere in his Mass in Dubrovnik, an ancient coastal resort devastated by Serb shelling during Croatia’s 1991 war for independence from Yugoslavia.

Addressing thousands of cheering pilgrims at the city’s scenic port, John Paul beatified Marija Petkovic, who died in Rome in 1966 after founding a religious community that cared for impoverished children in Croatia and Latin America. Beatification is the last step before possible sainthood.

The Pope praised her “indomitable courage,” and he singled out wives and mothers for their “lofty vocation” in nurturing children and providing love and stability to families.

“I thank you, dear women, because by your sensitivity, generosity and strength, you enrich the world’s understanding and help to make human relations more honest and authentic,” Pope John Paul said in Croatian.

“The frenetic pace of modern life can lead to an obscuring or even a loss of what is truly human,” he said. “Perhaps more than in other periods of history, our time is in need of that genius which belongs to women, and which can ensure sensitivity for human beings in every circumstance.”

Pope John Paul’s praise notwithstanding, the Vatican has long been criticised for its refusal to ordain women as priests or to allow women to serve in top posts in Rome.

The Pope’s trip, which will take him to five cities all over overwhelmingly Catholic Croatia, will test his age. He suffers from Parkinson’s disease and crippling knee and hip ailments, and aides had to help him board Thursday’s flight from Rome.

Organisers said the city’s population of 40,000 nearly doubled for yesterday’s Mass.