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Sunday October 3, 8:16 PM
Pope beatifies last Austro-Hungarian emperor Pope John Paul II beatified the last Austro-Hungarian emperor, Charles I, who is remembered in Austria for authorising the use of mustard gas during World War I.
The move brings the Habsburg monarch one step from sainthood.
"I hope Emperor Charles will serve as an example, especially for those with political responsibilities in Europe today," the pope said during an open-air ceremony in Saint Peter's Square that was attended by 30,000 worshippers, including around 1,000 members of the Habsburg dynasty.
Also beatified was German mystic Anna Katharina Emmerick whose visions inspired Mel Gibson's controversial film "The Passion of the Christ."
The pope, who is 84 and suffers from Parkinson's disease and other ailments, also conferred the status of "blessed", the penultimate step to full sainthood, on two Frenchmen and an Italian nun.
Charles I became heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian empire on June 28, 1914 following the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, which historians say was the spark that ignited World War I. He was made emperor in November 1916 and crowned apostolic King of Hungary a month later.
His beatification has caused controversy in Austria, where he is remembered for giving the go-ahead for the use of deadly mustard gas during World War I. Critics there believe his elevation to be politically driven by the conservative right.
The Austrian press has ridiculed not only Charles' political record but the miracle he allegedly produced to merit beatification. According to the Vatican, he cured a Brazilian nun of varicose veins after doctors had given up all hope for her.
His official biography, published by the Vatican, says he was committed to peace and was the only political leader to support pope Benedict XV's peace efforts.
About 30,000 people gathered for the ceremony, among them some 700 descendants of the Habsburg family, including Charles I's four surviving sons of the 10 children he fathered with his wife Zita of Bourbon-Parma.
Pride of place went to 91-year-old Otto von Habsburg, his eldest son and a former European Parliament deputy who renounced all claim to the throne in 1961.
Belgium's Queen Dowager Fabiola led several European royal families attending the ceremony, including those of Spain, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein.
Anna Katharina Emmerick was born into a farming community in 1774, joined a convent and became famous for bearing the stigmata -- the wounds to hands and feet suffered by Christ during crucifixion -- after being confined to bed with a long illness. She died at the age of 50.
She is revered as a selfless worker in the biography provided by the Vatican, which says "she was always willing to take on hard work and loathsome tasks".
The poet Clemens Brentano became an admirer and visited her sickbed to record her visions. He published these after her death in a book entitled "The Painful Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ" which inspired the actor and director Mel Gibson to make his film.
During the 26 years of his pontificate to date, John Paul II has formally recognized 1,342 religious figures as blessed, and canonised a total of 482 saints, more than any of his predecessors in the 2,000-year history of the Church.