Canonization of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II. 1000 Shillings 2014. Silver Antique finish

On April 27th, 2014, for the first time in the church’s history, two popes were canonized on the same day. In a public mass in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis elevated his two, still popular, predecessors John XXIII and John Paul II to saint status. More than a million believers were expected in Rome for this grand ceremony.

Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was Pope John XXIII from 1958-1963. Even today the Italians still call him “il papa buono“ – the Kind Pope. As initiator of the Second Vatican Council, he ensured the modernization of the Catholic Church, mediated in the Cuban missile crisis in 1962 and with the encyclical «Pacem in terries», established a new attitude of the church, towards human rights. Pope John XXIII was beatified by Pope John Paul II in September 2000.

In 1978 the cardinals elected Karol Wojtyła as Pope John Paul II. During more than 25 of his pontifical years, the Pope visited 129 countries and wrote 14 encyclicals. He held more than 20’000 speeches, met with over 1500 heads of state and appointed 231 cardinals. Only six years after his death, he was beatified by Pope Benedict XV in the year 2011. The canonization process was even faster. The Vatican acknowledged a miracle healing in two cases. Two weeks after John Paul II’s death in 2005 the French nun Marie Simon-Pierre was cured of her Parkinsons disease overnight in a medically unexplained manner.

As if by a miracle, Floribeth Mora Diaz from Costa Rica was cured of a life-endangering vascular dilatation in the brain (Aneurysm) in 2011. She had followed the beatification of John Paul II on television while asking for his help. When she awoke the next day she heard an inner voice saying “Get up, do not be afraid“.

Country     Tanzania
Year     2014
Face value     1000 Shillings
Metal     Silver .925
Weight     20 g
Size     38.61 mm
Quality     Antique finish
Mintage     1000 pcs