Vice President Francisco Reyes López confirmed the news. The decision was welcomed by Archbishop Rodolfo Quezada of Guatemala City, who hopes that private companies will follow suit in order to allow their employees to attend the papal events.
A half million people are expected to turn out July 30 at the capital’s Race Track, where John Paul II will canonize Brother Pedro de San José Betancur (1626-1667), apostle of Guatemala’s Indians and poor.
