JPII’s beatification beats the record

JPII’s beatification beats the record

 Rome, Italy---The crowds expected at Pope John Paul II’s beatification last Sunday were being pegged at first at no more than 300,000 for a number of reasons. The Royal Wedding in London the preceding Friday was said to have cut the Rome crowd in half; moreover, times were tough economically and the weather was not very good. Another big reason for the expected low turnout was that Rome hotels were said to have jacked up their prices way before the beatification, perhaps in anticipation of crowds similar to the mammoth throngs that flocked to the funeral of JPII in April 2005.

All these were said to have frightened his devotees that two days before his beatification we kept hearing of turnout of only around 300,000 people. I thought, kakalug-kalog ang St. Peter’s. Kawawa naman si JPII.

Poles flock to Rome for their compatriot

But the day before the event, people descended on Rome from everywhere in unbelievable numbers. The Poles, ever grateful to their compatriot JPII for supporting them all the way in their battle against Communist rule, arrived on trains and in over 200 big buses from all over Poland with their families, waving their red and white flags. Last Saturday they occupied the sidewalks around the Vatican with their sleeping bags and blankets, and the innumerable portalets assembled by the Rome Commune helped make their lives a bit bearable. ..... MORE

Source:  Political Tidbits

URL: http://www.polbits.com/2011/05/jpiis-beatification-beats-record.html