With the beatification on 7th October 2001 the Catholic church has acknowledged the life of Blessed Nikolaus Groß as a shining example for the whole church. The proceedings preceding this beatification were the shortest in the history of the church. They began with the visit of Pope John Paul II in the Ruhr area in 1987 and his speeches on the coal mine Prosper Haniel and in the Park Stadium Gelsenkirchen, in which he called Nikolaus Groß and his friends from the catholic working class movement exemplary martyrs of their faith thus emphasizing the global dimension of their worship in the catholic church. "You will be my witnesses" - this illumination on the scoreboard was the signal for the opening of the beatification procedure, which was completed in the year 2001 - 14 years after the Pope`s visit. Follow this way from the celebration in the Park stadium, the festive religious service in Xanten the continuation of the procedure, the preparation of the celebration in Essen on 30th September 2001 up to the beatification on 7th September 2001.