Romana

“The beatification of John Paul II: public opinion and sensus fidei” was the theme of the Study Conference organized by the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, this past April 1, in connection with the beatification of John Paul II, which would take place a month later. The work was inaugurated by Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints. The former director of the Press Office of the Holy See, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, also gave a presentation.

The second part of the conference included a round table with the participation of journalists, Vatican specialists, and teachers of communications, moderated by Professor Diego Contreras, dean of the School of Institutional Communication at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. Taking part were Luigi Accattoli, from the newspaper Corriere della Sera; Aldo Maria Valli, Vatican specialist for Italian Public Television news; Marina Ricci, from the news department of Channel 5-Mediaset; Elisabetta Lo Iacono, professor of Journalism at the San Buenaventura School of Theology, and Giovanni Tridente, professor of information ethics at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.

A few weeks earlier, on March 9, at the same site, the postulator for the cause of canonization of John Paul II participated in one of the colloquia organized by the School of Communication at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. Msgr. Slawomir Oder said that Karol Wojtyla “made the Gospel, the word of God, known with his life.” The postulator said that “when John Paul II could no longer speak, because he had lost this ability, he still transmitted—despite his human powerlessness—the strength of his faith.” For “holiness is a process, a response to the grace of God,” and whoever “takes refuge in him, allows his heart to be transformed.”