The city's Catholics celebrated the beatification of widely beloved Pope John Paul II Sunday, a key step on his path to sainthood.
"It's a very cool thing - he was a very spiritual man," Steve Damato, 64, ofCollege Point, Queens, a retired FDNYcaptain, said before a Mass of thanksgiving at St. Patrick's Cathedral that drew a standing-room-only crowd. "He was into fostering good things, and keeping the church very alive and relevant."
Edward Cardinal Egan, who officiated at the Fifth Ave. cathedral's celebratory Mass, praised the Polish-born pontiff as a spiritual leader who confronted the evils of his day, like Nazism, and was able to forgive the would-be assassin who shot him in 1981.
"He touched many, many souls," Egan, the former Archbishop of New York, told reporters after Mass. "I can assure you, millions of Catholics have no doubt he belongs among the blessed."
The pope, who died in 2005, was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI early Sunday morning at the Vatican in Rome. More than one million people gathered in and around St. Peter's Square for the ceremony.
Beatification is the first major milestone on the path to possible sainthood, one of the Catholic Church's highest honors. A second miracle attributed to John Paul's intercession is needed for him to be canonized.
Many who gathered in Rome were from John Paul's native Poland. Flags and banners with the eastern European country's red and white could be seen peppered among the crowd.
"He deserved to be a saint," said Jane Bracher, 64, of Carmel, Calif., who attended St. Patrick's Mass. She and her husband, former Episcopalians, met John Paul before they converted to Catholicism.
"When I looked in his eyes, I saw a lot of pain he carried with him - the pain of the world," recalled Jim Bracher, 65. "It was a transforming event."
Amid the rejoicing about John Paul's fast-track trajectory towards sainthood, some survivors of sex abuse by Catholic clergy spoke of their pain Sunday.
"This is like pouring salt in the wounds of survivors," said Mary Caplan, 68, a co-director of the New York City chapter of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
She handed out leaflets branding John Paul's beatification as "hasty" outside St. Patrick's - one of 70 churches worldwide where members of the survivors' group stood to protest.
"He did nothing, really, to protect victims of child abuse," the East Village resident said.
"It's a very cool thing - he was a very spiritual man," Steve Damato, 64, ofCollege Point, Queens, a retired FDNYcaptain, said before a Mass of thanksgiving at St. Patrick's Cathedral that drew a standing-room-only crowd. "He was into fostering good things, and keeping the church very alive and relevant."
Edward Cardinal Egan, who officiated at the Fifth Ave. cathedral's celebratory Mass, praised the Polish-born pontiff as a spiritual leader who confronted the evils of his day, like Nazism, and was able to forgive the would-be assassin who shot him in 1981.
"He touched many, many souls," Egan, the former Archbishop of New York, told reporters after Mass. "I can assure you, millions of Catholics have no doubt he belongs among the blessed."
The pope, who died in 2005, was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI early Sunday morning at the Vatican in Rome. More than one million people gathered in and around St. Peter's Square for the ceremony.
Beatification is the first major milestone on the path to possible sainthood, one of the Catholic Church's highest honors. A second miracle attributed to John Paul's intercession is needed for him to be canonized.
Many who gathered in Rome were from John Paul's native Poland. Flags and banners with the eastern European country's red and white could be seen peppered among the crowd.
"He deserved to be a saint," said Jane Bracher, 64, of Carmel, Calif., who attended St. Patrick's Mass. She and her husband, former Episcopalians, met John Paul before they converted to Catholicism.
Amid the rejoicing about John Paul's fast-track trajectory towards sainthood, some survivors of sex abuse by Catholic clergy spoke of their pain Sunday.
"This is like pouring salt in the wounds of survivors," said Mary Caplan, 68, a co-director of the New York City chapter of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
She handed out leaflets branding John Paul's beatification as "hasty" outside St. Patrick's - one of 70 churches worldwide where members of the survivors' group stood to protest.
"He did nothing, really, to protect victims of child abuse," the East Village resident said.
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