President Obama headed to four countries over the next week. He started in Japan, from there he will fly west to South Korea. The third leg of the trip will taken him near the Equator to Malaysia. And then he will visit the Philippines before heading back home to the U.S.

 

The president arrived in the Japanese capital of Tokyo yesterday. Japan's prime minister took him to dinner at a world famous sushi restaurant. There is a formal state dinner scheduled for today and throughout this trip, president Obama has some formal diplomatic challenge on his plate. One includes questions of how the U.S. can shift the attension to Asia when it's been so focused on Syria, Ukraine and the Middle East.

 

That's interesting. Right in the midst of the Ukraine crisis, in which the U.S. has tried to take a lead in finding a diplomatic solution there. Here comes this very important Asian trip where some of the countries to be visited have very similar territory worries even dispute with China. That's not so easy to espouse the values of national sovereignty and territory integrity in one part of the world and not address it at another. In fact, one Japanese newspaper asked President Obama about it even before he landed, about these disputed islands between Japan and China in the east China sea and the president didn't try to walk some middle ground, he definitely said he sides with Japan on this as the rightful administrator of those islands and said that the U.S. opposes efforts to undermine that. Then you look at the Philippines and Malaysia, they have their own issues with China. So, this is sure to be a topic that comes up again and at times it is a sensitive one as this trip progresses. Michelle Kosinski, CNN, Tokyo.

 

For the first time in history, two popes, leaders of the Catholic Church are being canonized at the same time. Canonization is when someone is declared the saint. It's a formal recognition by the Catholic Church that says someone lived a holy life, is in heaven, and that he or she deserves to be honored and imitated by the Catholic faithful. There have been 266 popes in all, 83 of them have been canonized. That includes Pope John the 23rd, who led the Catholic Church between 1958 and 1963, and Pope John Paul the second who led between 1978 and 2005. They are being declared Saints this Sunday.

 

And there's an air of expectation and excitement in Vatican City, sea of the Roman Catholic Church.

 

Overnight, it seems that tourists' shops around Vatican Square are packing a new lines of ^& books. Their focus, two former popes. And sales are booming.

 

Usually we sell more small images, cards with the prayer or also the rosaries with the images. They are sold very well. 

 

Never before have two popes been turned into Saints on the same day, and Catholic and non-Catholics alike are curious, not only about Pope John, the 23rd and John Paul 2nd themselves, but also why they should become Saints, and why the unprecedented double canonization.

 

Part of it goes back 50 years to the second Vatican Council called by John the 23rd to modernize the church. The young bishop Karol Wojtyla who was to become John Paul II was a part of those meetings too. But in the end, the council left the church divided between those who wanted more reform and those who wanted to stick with tradition.

 

Those who knew both men will tell you that Pope Francis is now trying to heal that rift by canonizing two coucil participants who have come to represent those opposing views.

 

The Pope is going to bring together in one ceremony the father of the council and the son who put it into action.

 

Others will tell you that the reason for creating two new Saints is because they share Catholic values that make them apt role models for our times.

 

But there's another, perhaps less spiritual reason, call up reflected glory in the most literal sense of the term. But Pope Francis who has already become one of the most popular popes in modern church history to associate himself with two of his predecessors who are also admired can only enhance his reputation. Perhaps strengthen the church.

 

In fact, Francis, John 23rd and John Paul II are three church superstars coming together for one conanonical moment certain to unite Catholic and perhaps renew their faith. So, while the Catholic Church already has thousands of Saints and adding two more might not seem like a such a big deal, but double canonization of two popes takes on a historical, theological and popular significance. many church fathers hope will give new energy to a most ancient organization. Jim Bittermann, CNN, Rome.