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Pope declares John Paul II, John XXIII saints

The ceremony was shown in 3D at hundreds of cinemas across the world from Francis’s Argentina to Lebanon and was live tweeted by the Vatican’s vicariate of Rome under the hashtag #2popesaints.

Francis was co-celebrating the mass with Benedict XVI and hundreds of bishops and cardinals the first time that two living popes say mass together.

It was also the first time that two Catholic Church leaders were being declared saints on the same day.

The charismatic, globe-trotting John Paul II helped topple Communism in Eastern Europe and John XXIII is best remembered for launching a process of reform of the Catholic Church in the 1960s.

Former German chancellor Helmut Kohl paid tribute to John Paul II in an editorial for Il Messaggero.

“He played a decisive role in making the fall of the Berlin Wall possible,” Kohl said, adding that the pope had been “a fearless fighter for freedom”.

Francis has reached levels of popularity not seen since the days of John Paul II but experts say he is more comparable to John XXIII a unifying figure with the kindly manner of a parish priest.

By sainting them together, Francis “is speaking not just to the outside world but to rival camps within the Catholic fold who see John XXIII and John Paul II as their heroes”, said US-based Vatican expert John Allen from the Boston Globe.

The Vatican said 98 foreign delegations were present including former Polish president and Solidarity leader Lech Walesa an ally of John Paul II and the kings of Belgium and Spain.

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