NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Pope John Paul II will preside at beatification ceremonies for 10 people on Sunday, March 7.

      Those to be beatified are:

- Vincente Soler and his 6 companions, members of the Augustinian order, who died as martyrs during the Spanish Civil War;
- Manuel Martin Sierra, another Spanish priest who died as a martyr in 1936;
- Nicolas Barre, a French priest of the 17th century and founder of the Sisters of the Infant Jesus; and
- Anna Schaeffer, a Germany lay woman who died in 1925.

      The Sunday ceremonies will bring the total number of people beatified by Pope John Paul II up to 819; of these, 603 have been proclaimed martyrs for the faith. Pope John Paul has also canonized 280 people, of whom 246 are martyrs.