Local Catholics to mark canonization at Pacific Coliseum
Posted April 27, 2014 12:03 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Ten thousand Catholics are expected to gather at the Pacific Coliseum Sunday afternoon to celebrate Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II becoming saints.
The archdiocese believes it may be the biggest gathering in North America to mark the historic occasion happening at the Vatican.
Paul Schratz who speaks for the Archdiocese of Vancouver says while many other dioceses have planned similar events, the one at the coliseum will probably top them in sheer size.
The Vatican’s nuncio, or ambassador, to Canada will be a special guest.
“There will also be a massive choir with over 200 Catholic high school students. There will be another choir made up of 80 parishioners. We are going to have 60 priests saying mass. This is going to be huge,” Schratz explains.
He points out British Columbians still have a special fondness for one of the popes being elevated, Pope John Paul II.
“There were a quarter of a million people who were at the mass at Abbotsford Airport in 1984 where Pope John Paul celebrated mass. Then there were tens of thousands at BC Place stadium to see him.”
Hundreds of youths in the diocese would have attended events led by Pope John Paul around the world, since he launched World Youth Day back in the mid-80s.
John Paul II was pope from 1978 to his death in 2005.
John XXIII reigned from 1958 to 1963.
A grand procession into the coliseum begins at 2 p.m.
