Pope John Paul II’s Sainthood on Fast Track

ABC's Phoebe Natanson reports from Rome: Pope John Paul II's cause for beatification – his first step towards sainthood – has just gathered speed almost five years after his death. Vatican sources confirmed today that the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, the office that handles and approves the process of sainthood in the Catholic Church, met in the Vatican yesterday to discuss Pope John Paul II’s ‘file’ and ‘heroic virtues.’ The congregation’s decisions are not normally announced publicly, but Vatican sources said that the congregation had given its approval for the beatification process to proceed after a day of discussion and a unanimous vote. Becoming a saint is a very long and complicated process which includes various phases of gathering evidence to prove a life of heroic sanctity, interviewing contemporaries when possible, and examining a person’s writing for any trace of unorthodoxy. All candidates to sainthood go through the same process, but in the case of a Pope there is always an abundance of writings that need extra special attention. It normally takes a lot longer for a Pontiff to get through this lengthy vetting process before being  beatified – and later canonized — but Pope Benedict XVI, who often cites his predecessor in his speeches, put Pope John Paul's beatification cause on a fast track by waiving a rule requiring a five-year wait before the start of the process. Pages and pages about Pope John Paul's long life – before and after he became Pope in 1978 — and a great part of his writings throughout his life were gathered together and presented to the congregation in the Vatican in large bound volumes to be poured over and studied by the experts. The congregation’s decision will now be sent to Pope Benedict XVI who has to sign the decree that confirms his predecessor’s ‘heroic virtues’ and declares him ‘venerable.’ This papal decree is normally publicly announced in a Vatican press office release. Once Pope John Paul is declared ‘venerable,’ medical and theological commissions have to confirm his  miraculous healing of a French nun from Parkinson’s and this then has to be approved once again by the Congregation of the Saints. One certified miracle is required by the church to be declared beatified; another miracle is needed for canonization, when a person is finally declared a saint. Only after the confirmation of the miracle will the Pope decree his final approval that Pope John Paul be declared ‘blessed’ and announce the day for the beatification ceremony. Present thinking in Vatican circles is that the Pope’s first decree declaring Pope John Paul venerable is not expected earlier than mid-December and the whole process is not expected to be concluded earlier than March 2010. This would be too late to announce the beatification ceremony for April 2010, just five years after his death, which is when many Vatican watchers had predicted it would take place.  As Easter falls in April in 2010, the Church’s calendar of ceremonies at that time is already full. The next possible date for the beatification ceremony is rumored to be October 17, 2010.  Pope John Paul was elected on Oct 16 and the Vatican will be holding its Middle Eastern Synod at that time which would mean a large number of cardinals and bishops would already be in town for the ceremony. Pope John Paul’s beatification ceremony is expected to draw millions of faithful to Rome – especially from his native land of Poland – and Rome’s city council is already making plans as to how to receive them.
Catholics around the world continue to pray to him, flock to his tomb under St. Peter’s Basilica and reports of miracles attributed to his heavenly intervention are said to arrive in Rome continuously. News that Pope John Paul II may make it to sainthood in record speed will delight all the crowds of faithful who chanted “Santo Subito”! Sainthood now! at Pope John Paul II’s funeral in April 2005.