In the first few weeks of his pontificate, Benedict XVI seriously took into consideration the request to proclaim Pope Wojtyla an “instant saint.”
That is, to directly open a process for canonization, skipping the intermediate step of beatification - an event that would have been without precedent in the modern age.
Ratzinger did not immediately say no, instead evaluating the proposal arising from the aspirations of Wojtyla’s special secretary, Stanislaw Dziwisz.
After consulting with some colleagues from the Roman Curia, he finally determined to allow an immediate opening of the process – skipping the five-year wait after death, but not skipping the step of beatification.
To understand what happened in the sacred palaces of the Oltretevere, we must return to the great emotion of the days after John Paul II’s death.
The cardinals, as they met to decide on the funeral and prepare the conclave for the future Benedict XVI, witnessed the uninterrupted river of people lined up before Wojtyla’s body.
The Slovak cardinal Jozef Tomko, Prefect Emeritus of Propaganda Fide and friend of the recently deceased Pontiff, organized the collection of signatures from his fellow cardinals to request that the new Pope, whoever it would be, open the cause to bring his predecessor onto altars.
In his funeral Mass homily the then-deacon of the College of Cardinals, Joseph Ratzinger, spoke of Wojtyla looking through the window of heaven. His words were considered a viaticum to the halo.
Immediately after the election, Cardinal Ruini presented him with the cardinals’ petition.
Dsiwisz, on the other hand, suggested that Benedict XVI proceed with the proclamation of “instant saint.”
Ratzinger, who had known Wojtyla intimately and was one of his oldest and closest colleagues, wanted to calmly evaluate the cases for and against: on one hand there was his predecessor’s exceptional nature and his reputation of holiness which had spread at the grassroots level; on the other hand, there were the canonical rules, and the impact that such a transgression of the rules - passing immediately to a proclamation of holiness – would have.
The new Pope knew well that something similar had been considered just two years earlier - in June 2003, Secretary of State Angelo Sodano wrote a letter on behalf of John Paul II to a few cardinals of the Roman Curia, asking their opinion on the possibility of proclaiming Mother Teresa of Calcutta an instant saint without going through the beatification process.
Pope Wojtyla liked the idea, but wanted to consult his colleagues, who advised against it. Thus Mother Teresa became beatified, not sainted.
Consulting a few colleagues, Benedict XVI has thus followed in the same line. He decided to forego the five-year wait, but stipulated that his predecessor’s cause, though following a preferential course with regard to time, should take place according to regular procedures, without shortcuts or reductions.
The fact that John Paul II has been beatified just six years after death is already an exceptional fact in itself. In over a millennium, in fact, no Pope has elevated his immediate predecessors onto the altars.
Before Wojtyla, the last Pope that people wanted to make an “instant saint” was John XXIII.
The fathers of Vatican II proposed to his successor, Paul VI, that he be canonized in Council, through acclamation.
This Pope also chose a different course and started the regular process for Roncalli, along with another for Pius XII.