Pope John Paul II beatified Charles I, the last ruler of the Austro-Hungarian empire, at an outdoor ceremony in St. Peter's Square in October 2004. Roughly 30,000 people attended, including approximately 1,000 members of the Habsburg family. The rite placed the former monarch one step from full sainthood.
The elevation has drawn sharp criticism in Austria, where Charles I is remembered for authorizing the use of mustard gas during World War I. Austrian commentators have also questioned the Vatican's cited miracle: the recovery of a Brazilian nun from varicose veins attributed to his intercession. Supporters point to his backing of Pope Benedict XV's wartime peace efforts, which no other political leader of the era endorsed.
Among the Habsburg descendants present was Otto von Habsburg, 91, the emperor's eldest son, who had renounced all dynastic claims in 1961. Royal families from Belgium, Spain, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein also attended.
Also elevated was German mystic Anna Katharina Emmerick, a 19th-century stigmatic whose visions, recorded by the poet Clemens Brentano, supplied the source material for Mel Gibson's film "The Passion of the Christ."
The ceremony added to John Paul II's record as the most prolific canonizer in Church history: across his 26-year pontificate he had beatified 1,342 figures and canonized 482 saints.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in October 2004, in its own words.