Pope canonises saint in Guatemala

A WEARY Pope John Paul II canonised Central America's first saint yesterday.

Speaking from a flower-covered stage ringed by volcanos, he urged the hundreds of thousands present to follow the example of love and charity set by 17th century missionary Pedro de San Jose Betancur.

The pope, on his third trip to Guatemala, pronounced Betancur a saint.

At least 350,000 jubilant Roman Catholics packed a racetrack for the Mass, waving flags and singing hymns in the shadow of the Pacaya Volcano.

Stopping to catch his breath several times , John Paul said the new saint “represents an urgent appeal to practice mercy in modern society ”.

His voice was relatively clear, although he slurred some words, a symptom of Parkinson’s disease.

Betancur was a Spanish missionary from the Canary Islands known for helping prisoners, abandoned children and the sick in Guatemala.

Archbishop Rodolfo Quezada yesterday called Guatemalan Bishop Juan Jose Gerardi, who was bludgeoned to death in 1998 after accusing the military of human rights abuses during the nation’s civil war, a martyr.

Many say the pope helped end the 36-year war. Months after his visit in 1996, peace accords were signed.

Paula Batz, who believes government officials killed her husband during the war, waited all night for a seat at the racetrack. “Only the blessed pope could be capable of reuniting a country so divided and in terrible conflict,” she said.

The trip, which began in Toronto a week ago for World Youth Day was starting to take its toll on the 82-year-old pope. After walking down the stairs of his plane in Toronto, he used a lift to disembark in Guatemala. Aides pushed him in a cart to a platform at the airport, and held him as he walked to a chair.