Rome
The pope this week beatified a 19th-century nun who had detailed visions of Jews and Romans beating and denigrating Christ in his final hours. The writings of Sister Anna Katharina Emmerick helped inspire Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ. Also beatified was Austria-Hungary’s last emperor, Charles I, who, the pope said, “worked for peace.” Modern Austrian newspapers criticized that choice, noting that Charles’ troops used poison gas in World War I, and that the only miracle attributed to the king was the healing of a woman’s varicose veins. Beatification is a key step on the way to sainthood.
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