I've been watching a lot of coverage about the coming canonization of the late Popes John XXIII and John Paul II. I have nothing against the Roman Catholic Church, but I have to admit that the idea of declaring certain people to be "saints" on the basis of supposed miracles attributed to their intercession strikes me, as a Protestant, as rather bizarre. I understand the desire to honour those who have made a major contribution to the faith - but it's the "miracle" part that bothers me, along with the fact that as far as I can see, "saints" are all those who are sanctified. You don't need to be dead and have a miracle attributed to your intercession to be a saint; you just have to be sanctified - by faith in Christ, according to traditional Christian thought. And as far as miracles are concerned, well - I rather stand on the traditional Calvinist perspective that God is sovereign. God will do whatever God will do, and God requires intercession from no one to act. So I really don't get the whole thing or all the hype. John XXIII and John Paul II may have been great figures of the faith and may have been worthy of honour in the Roman Catholic Church and beyond. But sainthood? Sometimes my protestantism just has to be expressed.
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