Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Pope John Paul II Beatified

Last Sunday, Pope John Paul II was beatified in a ceremony held at St. Peter's Square in the Vatican. Beatification declares that a person be "blessed" and is the last step to becoming a full blown saint. For sainthood to take place, a miracle must have been performed and it is said that John Paul cured a nun of Parkinson's disease. I'm not a Catholic so I find all this beatification a bit baffling.

This sticker came out when the Pope visited St. Louis, Missouri in January, 1999. It was John Paul's last visit to the US before his death in 2005. Over 104,000 people attended Mass at the Trans World Dome which set a record for the largest indoor gathering ever in the United States. KSHE is a Rock station licensed to Crestwood, MO. Sweetmeat is the station's longtime pig mascot.

Radio Vaticana broadcasts in 47 languages on shortwave, mediumwave, FM, satellite and the internet. Their first broadcast was in February, 1931 and was attended by Guglielmo Marconi, who "invented" radio. In 2009, they began airing commercials for the first time in order to meet rising costs. Vatican Radio programming includes news, religious ceremonies and music.

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