This Thursday, April 27, marks nine years since the canonization ceremony of the pontiffs St. John Paul II and St. John XXIII took place, presided over by Pope Francis, in which thousands of faithful participated.

The Holy See estimated that 500 thousand people gathered in St. Peter’s Square and the adjacent streets, and another 300 thousand joined the ceremony through giant screens in Rome.

During his homily, Pope Francis highlighted that “In convening the Council, Saint John XXIII showed an exquisite openness to the Holy Spirit. He let himself be led, and he was for the Church a pastor, a servant-leader, guided by the Holy Spirit. This was his great service to the Church; for this reason, I like to think of him as the Pope of openness to the Holy Spirit.”.

He defined St. John Paul II as “the Pope of the Family. ” He once said that this is how he would have liked to be remembered, as the “Pope of the family.”

Because at that time, the Synod on the Family, which was held in October 2015, was being prepared, Pope Francis highlighted the figure of the Polish Pontiff: “Now that we are living a synodal journey on the family and with families, a journey that he, from Heaven, certainly accompanies and sustains.”

Finally, Pope Francis asked that both pontiffs “teach us not to be scandalized by the wounds of Christ and to enter ever more deeply into the mystery of divine mercy, which always hopes and always forgives, because it always loves.”

A total of 870 priests distributed communion to the faithful, and some 2 billion people followed the celebration worldwide on television.

Pilgrims flocked to St. Peter’s Square with flags and banners. On the previous night, hundreds of thousands participated in prayer vigils held in churches in the center of Rome in different languages.