pope john paul II

Fernando Cardenal was minister of education and led a literacy campaign under Nicaragua's Sandinista government in the 1980s.

Today, Salvadorans will remember Archbishop Oscar Romero at masses in his honor across the country, and with a ceremony in San Salvador cathedral led by Panamanian Cardinal José Luis Lacunza.

How do you get permission to paint a portrait of the Pope? Most of us wouldn’t have any idea where to start, but Juan Manuel Delgado found a simple solution: He wrote the Pope’s sister on Facebook.

The pontiff credited with helping to bring down Communism in Eastern Europe – and whose canonization was made possible by a supposed miracle in Costa Rica – was accused of backing right-wing dictators in Latin America including Augusto Pinochet in Chile during the Cold War.

Floribeth Mora, a 50-year-old Costa Rican, has now become a sort of religious icon herself.