Wednesday, April 02, 2008

John Paul II sainthood report goes forward

Three years after the death of Pope John Paul II on April 2 2005, Vatican officials have submitted a 2,000 page report on the late pontiff's life to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Monsignor Slawomir Oder said the document summarises and analyses all the documentation about John Paul's life and virtues that had been gathered since his death, including testimony from witnesses and the late pontiff's own writings.

"In the past days I have submitted a semi-final version," Mgr Oder said.

Now an independent Vatican official, Fr Daniel Ols, must review the report and give it the final go-ahead for an official presentation to the Congregation, which must then gather committees of cardinals and bishops to discuss the merits of the case.

The Vatican's saint-making procedures - which can include the weighing of favourable and unfavourable information - require that a miracle attributed to the candidate's intercession be confirmed before beatification.

A second miracle is necessary for canonisation.

Pope Benedict put John Paul on the fast track for possible sainthood just weeks after his death, waiving the customary five-year waiting period and allowing the investigation into his virtues to begin immediately.

Such a waiver had only been granted once before, to Mother Teresa, who died in 1997 and who was beatified by John Paul in 2003.

John Paul's sainthood process is going ahead quickly with milestones reached at nearly every anniversary of his death. Last year, the investigation into John Paul's life and virtues was officially closed, and French Church officials turned over to the Vatican documentation about a purported miracle attributed to his intercession.

Pope Benedict will today celebrate a Mass marking the third anniversary of Pope John Paul's death.
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