The longtime private secretary of Pope John Paul said Tuesday that he'll never forget his last moments with the late pontiff.Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz made his remarks at a ceremony in Rome on the eve of the third anniversary of John Paul's death on April 2, 2005.
"I can't forget his last goodbye, when he took my hand and I kissed his for the last time," said the cardinal, who was for four decades the closest aide to John Paul.
"This goodbye will stay with me forever."
John Paul died after a nearly 27-year pontificate.
Shortly afterward, Pope Benedict put him on the fast track for possible sainthood, waiving the customary five-year waiting period.
Benedict is due to preside over a Mass on Wednesday marking the anniversary of John Paul's death.
Monsignor Slawomir Oder, the church official spearheading the cause to make John Paul a saint, said this week that he had finished a report analyzing documentation to support the canonization process.
The report summarizes 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.
"We need to be patient and optimistic," said Oder, who was also attending Tuesday's ceremony.
The Vatican's complicated 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 canonization.
John Paul's 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.
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