WHAT A DECADE! A LOOK AT THE BIGGEST CATHOLIC STORIES OF THE 2010S

DENVER (CO)
Catholic News Agency

Dec. 21, 2019

When Church historians look back on the last ten years, they’ll have several historic and important moments to study. And Catholics who’ve lived through the last decade may feel that changes, often one right after another, were both dizzying and exciting.

As a new decade begins on January 1, 2020, CNA offers a look back at some of the most important stories for the Church in the 2010s:

2013
Pope Benedict XVI announces his retirement

When Pope Benedict XVI announced that he would retire in February 2013, he was the first pope to relinquish his office since 1415. The pope emeritus said that he would “serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life dedicated to prayer.”

Pope Francis, first Latin American pope, elected

After the resignation of Pope Benedict XVi, the conclave of cardinals elected Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, who took the name Pope Francis. The pope is the first Latin American to be elected to the papacy, and the first Jesuit.

2014
Pope St. John Paul II and Pope St. John XXIII canonized

John Paul II had been beatified in 2011 by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI. John XXIII had been beatified in 2000, by Pope John Paul II.

The two were canonized together by Pope Francis.

Pope John XXIII convoked the Second Vatican Council, and Pope John Paul II, the first Polish pope, has been the longest-reigning pope since Vatican II, Pope Francis pointed out during the canonization.

At the canonization, Pope Francis praised John Paul II’s “untiring service, his spiritual guidance, and his extraordinary testimony of holiness.”

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