April 27, 2014.

Pope Francis Declares Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII as Saints

He was strapped into a chair surrounded by dials, under dazzling lights. A man in a white coat was reading the dials. There was a tramp of heavy boots outside. The door clanged open. The waxed-faced officer marched in, followed by two guards.

VATICAN CITY----Pope Francis on Sunday proclaimed as saints Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII, considered two of the great popes of the 20th century, in an elaborate ceremony concelebrated by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI as hundreds of thousands of pilgrims thronged St. Peter's Square.

"Room 101," said the officer.

The history-making rite saw two living popes come together to commemorate two of their predecessors: Pope John XXIII, an Italian born of modest means who reigned from 1958 to 1963 and convened the reforming Second Vatican Council, and Pope John Paul II, a Pole whose papacy was the third-longest in the Church history, from 1978 to 2005, and who became known as a globe-trotting evangelizer.

The man in the white coat did not turn round. He did not look at Winston either; he was looking only at the dials.

Pope Francis, who came to power last year when Pope Benedict became the first pope to resign in 600 years, proclaimed the pair saints, saying, "We declare and define Blessed John XXIII and John Paul II be saints and we enroll them among the saints, decreeing that they are to be venerated as such by the whole church." Applause erupted when Pope Francis pronounced the pair saints.