Vatican City, May 15, 2005 / 22:00 pm
On Saturday, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins C.M.F., prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, presided at the much anticipated Mass for the beatification of Servants of God Ascension Nicol Goni and Marianne Cope, saying that the two "brought into the world the fruits and signs of the presence of the Holy Spirit.”
Pope Benedict raised some eyebrows in breaking with recent tradition and having Cardinal Martins celebrate the beatification instead of himself.
The cardinal opened the ceremony reading out the Apostolic Letter, commissioned by the Pope, regarding the inscription of the two Servants of God in the Book of Blesseds.
Cardinal Saraiva spoke in his homily about the Apostles, who at Pentecost, "experienced the Holy Spirit and became witnesses of Christ, Who died and rose again, [and became] missionaries along the paths of the world.”