The first session in the processes of beatification and canonization of the Servant of God Emilia Wojtyła née Kaczorowska and the Servant of God Karol Wojtyła, parents of St. John Paul II, took place on 7 May in the Basilica of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Wadowice.
Once the tribunals have been established to examine the sanctity of both candidates for the altars, Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski, Metropolitan of Cracow, presided over a solemn Holy Mass for the successful course of the process.
The postulator of the canonization processes of Karol and Emilia Wojtyła is Fr. Sławomir Oder, who was also a postulator of the beatification and canonization process of John Paul II.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, a long-standing personal secretary of Archbishop Karol Wojtyła and Pope John Paul II. “I want to testify here, at this point, in the presence of the Archbishop and the assembled priests, that as a long-standing secretary of Cardinal Karol Wojtyła and Pope John Paul II, I heard from him many times that he had holy parents,” said Cardinal Dziwisz.
“There is great joy of starting the beatification processes and great gratitude to God for the life of Emilia and Karol Wojtyła and for the fact that we will be able to get to know them more and more. They will become a model and example for many families who want to be holy,” said Fr. Paweł Rytel-Andrianik, the spokesman of the Polish Bishops’ Conference.
