Vatican City - Pope John Paul beatified 44 martyrs yesterday in the first beatification of the Catholic Church's Holy Year 2000.
More than 30,000 pilgrims packed St Peter's Square for the ceremony, most from the countries where the martyrs came from - Brazil, Belarus, Poland, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
For the first time, communist Vietnam allowed four Catholic bishops to travel to Rome for the beatification, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.