Topi, other leaders at Pope’s beatification ceremony

TIRANA, May 2 – President Bamir Topi, parliament Speaker Jozefina Topalli and Prime Minister Sali Berisha were all present at the ceremony of Pope john Paul II at the beatification Sunday.
The beatification Sunday, the fastest in modern history, came six years after John Paul’s 2005 funeral drew calls of “Santo Subito!” or “Sainthood Immediately!” It drew 1.5 million people from across the globe, one of the largest Vatican celebrations ever and a testament to the popularity of the globe-trotting and charismatic pope.
Some 1.5 million pilgrims flooded Rome to watch Pope John Paul II move a step closer to sainthood in one of the largest Vatican Masses in history, an outpouring of adoration for a beloved and historic figure after years marred by church scandal.
For Catholics filling St. Peter’s Square and its surrounding streets, and for those watching around the world the beatification was a welcome hearkening back to the days when the pope was almost universally beloved.
Pope John Paul II also visited Albania in 1993.
John Paul is universally credited with helping bring down communism in his native Poland with support for the Solidarity labor movement, accelerating the fall of the Iron Curtain.
Benedict put John Paul on the fast-track for possible sainthood when he dispensed with the traditional five-year waiting period and allowed the beatification process to begin weeks after his April 2, 2005, death.
Beatification is the last major milestone before a candidate is declared a saint. John Paul needs another miracle attributed to his intercession before he can be canonized.
President Topi was also received at a ceremony by Pope Benedict XVI. Topi thanked the Pope for the Vatican’s support to Albania’s democracy development and also the religious harmony in the country.
But it should not be forgotten the fact that the country remained for some hours under the governing of its Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Edmond Haxhinasto as the three top leaders had left the country, something which is not normal.