The cause of the sanctity of the parents of Saint John Paul II has officially opened

The holy causes of St John Paul II's parents were formally opened Thursday in Poland.

An inauguration ceremony for the causes of Karol and Emilia Wojtyła took place at the Basilica of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Wadowice, the hometown of John Paul II, on May 7th.

During the ceremony, the archdiocese of Krakow officially formed the courts that will seek evidence that the parents of the Polish pope have lived lives of heroic virtues, enjoy a reputation for sanctity and are considered intercessors.

After the first court session, the archbishop of Krakow Marek Jędraszewski presided over a mass, streamed live in the midst of the blockade of the Polish coronavirus.

The ceremony was attended by Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, who was the personal secretary of Pope John Paul II.

He said: “I want to testify here, at this point, in the presence of the archbishop and the assembled priests, that as longtime secretary of Cardinal Karol Wojtyła and Pope John Paul II, I have heard from him many times that he had holy parents . "

Paweł Rytel-Andrianik, spokesman for the Polish bishops' conference, told CNA: "The beatification processes of Karol and Emilia Wojtyła ... testify above all to the appreciation of the family and its great role in shaping the saint and great man - - the Polish pope “.

"The Wojtyla have been able to create such an atmosphere at home and train children to become exceptional people."

“Therefore, there is a great joy in starting the beatification processes and a great gratitude to God for the life of Emilia and Karol Wojtyła and for the fact that we will be able to know them more and more. They will become a model and example for many families who want to be holy. "

Postulator p. Sławomir Oder, who also oversaw the cause of John Paul II, told Vatican News that the ceremony was an occasion to rejoice in Poland.

He said: “In fact, looking at this event, I am reminded of the words spoken by John Paul II during the canonization Mass of Saint Kinga, known as Cunegonda, celebrated in Poland in Stary Sącz, when he said that the saints were born from saints, nourished by the saints, draw life from the saints and their call to holiness ".

"And in that context he spoke precisely of the family as the privileged place where holiness has its roots, the first sources where it can mature for a lifetime."

The Basilica of the Presentation, where the cause of the Wojtyłas was opened, is the place where St. John Paul II was baptized on June 20, 1920. The church is located in front of the house of the Wojtyła family, which is now a museum, in Wadowice .

Karol Wojtyła, an army officer, and Emilia, a school teacher, were married in Krakow in 1906. They had three children. The first, Edmund, was born that year. He became a doctor, but took a scarlet fever from a patient and died in 1932. Their second son, Olga, died shortly after birth in 1916. Their youngest, Karol junior, was born in 1920, after Emilia refused the advice of a doctor to have an abortion because of his fragile health.

Emilia worked as a part-time seamstress after the birth of her third child. He died on April 13, 1929, just before Karol junior's ninth birthday, from myocarditis and kidney failure, according to his death certificate.

Karol senior, born July 18, 1879, was an unsolicited officer of the Austro-Hungarian army and a captain of the Polish army. He died on February 18, 1941, in Krakow, amid the Nazi occupation of Poland.

The future pope, who was 20 years old at the time and worked in a stone quarry, returned from work to find his father's body. He spent the night praying next to the body and later began to pursue his vocation to the priesthood.