On Wednesday, Pope Benedict XVI recalled the first anniversary of Blessed John Paul II’s beatification in St. Peter’s Square on May 1, 2011.

At the conclusion of the May 2 general audience, Pope Benedict XVI spoke in Polish to the more than 20,000 faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square, many of whom had come on pilgrimage from the late pontiff’s native land of Poland.

A year ago Benedict XVI beatified his beloved predecessor to the See of Peter John Paul II in Saint Peter's Square in front of the Basilica where a vast sea of pilgrims had gathered spilling beyond into the streets surrounding it. It was a prayerful moment but also a joyful one and pilgrims from Karol Wojtylas's native Poland attended in great numbers.

May 1 marks the one year anniversary since the beatification of Pope John Paul II. The time was marked by days of celebrations as pilgrims flooded the streets of Rome.