VATICAN CITY (AP) - In a Mass that included a special prayer for peace, Pope John Paul II on Sunday beatified eight Catholics, including two considered martyrs for their suffering under communism.
Addressing some 20,000 pilgrims in sun-baked St. Peter's Square, John Paul said the eight had dedicated their lives "for the glory of God and the good of their brothers."
Throughout his 23-year papacy, John Paul has used frequent beatifications and canonizations to honor people as models for Catholics today. John Paul has beatified a total of 1,282 people.
Beatification is the last formal step before possible canonization.
Those honored Sunday included two clergymen born in what was then Czechoslovakia, Bishop Pavol Peter Gojdic and the Rev. Metod Dominik Trcka. They both died in communist-era prisons.
Also honored were a 16th century Portuguese bishop, Bartolomeu Fernandes dos Martires; Maria Pilar Izquierdo Albero, the Spanish founder of a missionary order; and four Italians, Sister Gaetana Sterni, the Rev. Paolo Manna, the Rev. Luigi Tezza and Bishop Giovanni Antonio Farina.
Copyright 2001 Associated Press