Before being hospitalized today with a relapse of the flu, John Paul II had sent a letter to Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano asking him to preside at the consistory on his behalf.
«For reasons of prudence, I have been advised to follow the developments of the ceremony from my apartment through an internal television connection,» said the Pope in the letter, which the cardinal read to those present.
The five to be canonized as saints are:
— Blessed Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, a Jesuit (1901-1952) and standout figure of the Church in Chile.
— Two Ukrainians of Polish origin. One of them, Jozef Bilczewski (1860-1923) was archbishop of Lviv of the Latins. Blessed Zygmunt Gorazdowski (1845-1920) was a diocesan priest who belonged to the Lviv Archdiocese.
— Two Italians, Gaetano Catanoso and Felice Da Nicosia. Catanoso (1879-1963) was a priest of the Archdiocese of Reggio Calabria-Bova. He founded the Congregation of the Daughters of St. Veronica, Missionaries of the Holy Face.
Blessed Felice Da Nicosia (1715-1787) was a lay Italian of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchins.
