Pope Francis, leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has proclaimed two of his predecessors -- John the 23rd and John Paul the Second -- as saints at a ceremony Sunday in St. Peter's Square.
Pope Francis Canonizes Two Predecessors
![A statuette of Pope Francis is placed among desserts on sale at a cafe, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, April 27, 2014.](https://gdb.voanews.com/42CD21DE-16AD-4DE7-86E9-ADA145B19E96_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A statuette of Pope Francis is placed among desserts on sale at a cafe, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, April 27, 2014.
![Two people walk in front of images of Pope John XXIII, left, and Pope John Paul II, Guatemala City, April 27, 2014.](https://gdb.voanews.com/2755E0F4-B91A-463A-A1AF-67C185376A0F_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Two people walk in front of images of Pope John XXIII, left, and Pope John Paul II, Guatemala City, April 27, 2014.
![A group of people wait for the Vatican's telecast ceremony to begin, Crakow, Ukraine, April 27, 2014. (Jerome Socolovsky/VOA)](https://gdb.voanews.com/0BEE0D05-4671-4AA6-9B4B-27D309CECF3E_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A group of people wait for the Vatican's telecast ceremony to begin, Crakow, Ukraine, April 27, 2014. (Jerome Socolovsky/VOA)
![Jacinta Hamilton, 11, came with her family from Belfast, Northern Ireland to Crakow, Poland to celebrate the canonization of Pope John Paul II. He was a resident of Crakow for twenty years and was the first Slavic Pope in history, April 27, 2014. (Jerome Socolovsky/VOA)](https://gdb.voanews.com/6A725D42-ED35-4FFE-8B0F-2829DF9919CF_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Jacinta Hamilton, 11, came with her family from Belfast, Northern Ireland to Crakow, Poland to celebrate the canonization of Pope John Paul II. He was a resident of Crakow for twenty years and was the first Slavic Pope in history, April 27, 2014. (Jerome Socolovsky/VOA)