Pope John Paul II beatified four founders of religious organizations and a Hungarian doctor on Sunday, adding to the ranks of those on the path to possible sainthood.
The pope said each of the five had lived "the mystery of redemption," adding that their holiness should serve as an inspiration for other Catholics. Beatification is the last formal step before possible sainthood and requires evidence of one miracle after the person's death.
Those beatified were Pierre Bonhomme, French founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Calvary; Maria Dolores Rodriguez Sopena, founder of the Dolores Sopena Catechetical Institutes; Maria Caridad Brader, a Swiss missionary who founded the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate; and Juana Maria Condesa Lluch, founder of the Congregation of the Handmaids of Mary Immaculate.
Laszlo Batthyany Strattmann, a Hungarian doctor of aristocratic birth whose piety led him to treat the poor for free, also was beatified.
"The holiness of the new beatified stimulates us to aim for evangelical perfection, putting in practice all the words of Jesus. It is certainly a demanding ascetic itinerary, but it is possible for all," the pope said Sunday.
John Paul has beatified more than 1,300 people and proclaimed more than 450 saints since he became pope in 1978.