Vatican: Benedict XVI May Attend Pope Canonization

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican says emeritus Pope Benedict XVI might join Pope Francis at the canonization ceremony of their predecessors John Paul II and John XXIII.

That will make the unprecedented event of two living popes honoring two dead ones at a saint-making ceremony that is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people to Rome.

Francis on Monday announced that the canonization would take place April 27.

The Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi later wouldn't exclude that Benedict would take part in the ceremony, noting there were no reasons for him not to.

Benedict had said he would spend his final days "hidden from the world" in the Vatican monastery, but he has taken on a more public profile recently.

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