The Vatican said Sunday that it had made no decisions yet on whether to move Pope John Paul II's tomb from the grottos underneath St. Peter's Basilica to the basilica itself. Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi said in a statement that "any decision on the matter would not be made until the beatification."
John Paul died April 2, 2005, after a nearly 27-year pontificate. Shortly afterward, Pope Benedict XVI put him on the fast track for possible sainthood, waiving the customary five-year waiting period.
Beatification is the last major step before possible sainthood.
Italian newspaper La Stampa and other media reported that John Paul's body would be put on display and his tomb moved from the grottos to the interior of the basilica itself.
La Stampa said the plan had been readied by a commission headed by Cardinal Angelo Comastri, archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica. It said the transfer plan had also involved the Vatican police force.
But these details were denied by the Vatican.
"I can decisively deny that there has been any such commission headed by Cardinal Comastri and that any decision on the matter has been made," Lombardi said in a statement. "It is equally groundless to speak of any involvement by the Vatican (police force)."
Lombardi said that discussion of any hypothesis was premature.
As the third anniversary of John Paul's death approaches, Benedict remembered his predecessor during a public prayer Sunday.
Benedict will mark the anniversary Wednesday by presiding over a morning Mass in John Paul's memory.
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