Pope Canonizes Central American Saint

A weary Pope John Paul II canonized Central America's first saint on Tuesday from a flower-covered stage ringed by spectacular volcanoes, urging hundreds of thousands of cheering faithful to follow the example of love and charity set by the 17th century missionary.

The pope, on his third trip to Guatemala, pronounced Pedro de San Jose Betancur a saint as a young man rang a bell Betancur once used to collect for the poor. At least 350,000 jubilant Roman Catholics packed a racetrack for the Mass, waving flags and singing hymns in the shadow of the Pacaya Volcano.

Stopping to catch his breath several times in the brisk mountain air, John Paul said the new saint "represents an urgent appeal to practice mercy in modern society, especially when so many are hoping for a helping hand." His voice was relatively clear, although he slurred some words, a symptom of Parkinson's disease.

Betancur was a Spanish missionary from the Canary Islands known for helping prisoners, abandoned children and the sick in Guatemala.

The pope, who will canonize the church's first Indian saint Wednesday in Mexico City, also told the region's Indians that they had the right to "justice, integral development and peace."

"The pope does not forget you and, admiring the values of your cultures, encourages you to overcome with hope the sometimes difficult situations you experience," he said at the ceremony, attended by all of Central America's heads of state and the president of the Dominican Republic.

The pope said on his arrival Monday that he hoped the canonization could be "a true moment of grace and renewal for Guatemala" and help the country's people in their search for peace.

Guatemala's Archbishop Rodolfo Quezada, speaking at the Mass on Tuesday, called Guatemalan Bishop Juan Jose Gerardi a martyr. Gerardi was bludgeoned to death in 1998 after accusing the military of human rights abuses during Guatemala's 36-year civil war.

Many credit the pope with helping end that war. Months after his last visit in 1996, rebels and the government signed peace accords.

Paula Batz, who believes government officials kidnapped and killed her husband during the war, waited all night for a seat at the racetrack.

"Only the blessed pope could be capable of reuniting a country so divided and in terrible conflict," she said.

Before the Mass, thousands of young people held an all-night vigil in a packed soccer stadium, holding candles and chanting "John Paul II, Guatemala loves you."

The trip, which began in Toronto a week ago for World Youth Day and was continuing to Mexico later Tuesday, was starting to take its toll on the 82-year-old pope.

After surprising many by walking down the stairs of his plane in Toronto, he used a lift to disembark in Guatemala. Aides pushed him in a cart to a raised platform at the airport, and held him tightly as he walked to a chair. At Tuesday's Mass, however, the pope appeared more alert, smiling and waving to the crowds.

The pope suffers from the symptoms of Parkinson's disease and from knee and hip ailments.

John Paul has always received an especially warm welcome in Latin America, which traditionally is heavily Roman Catholic. But a growing number of Guatemalan Christians, who have swapped their inherited religion for different Protestant faiths, no longer answer to him, and the most fundamentalist even saw his visit as a scourge.

"They are putting a man in place of God," Sergio Enriquez, head pastor of the Eben-Ezer neo-Pentecostal church in downtown Guatemala City, where Sunday services feel like Broadway musicals complete with dancing girls and a 10-piece band. "It's a big waste of energy and money."

At a faster rate than almost anywhere else in Latin America, Guatemalans have abandoned the Catholic Church to join fundamentalist Christian groups, making this country key to the Vatican's drive to hold on to its faithful.

The pope has elevated a record number of saints — 463 — during his nearly 24-year papacy, holding them up as models for today's Catholics.

The pope's visit persuaded President Alfonso Portillo to send a proposal to Congress on Monday that would eliminate the country's death penalty. Portillo's spokesman, Byron Barrera, said the pope had specifically requested the action, with 36 convicts now on death row.

"The church has always tried to abolish the death penalty," said Monsignor Mario Rios Montt, an auxiliary bishop in Guatemala. "We hope the Congress responds."

After the canonization Mass, the pope was scheduled to leave for the last leg of his 11-day trip, traveling to Mexico where he will canonize Juan Diego as the church's first Indian saint. Juan Diego is known for his vision of an olive-skinned Virgin of Guadalupe in 1531.

Before flying home, Juan Paul was scheduled Thursday to beatify two Indians martyred in 1700, placing them a step from sainthood.