With life-size statues and T-shirts with John Paul II's famous phrase
"Be Not Afraid", pope mania is well underway in Rome ahead of a May 1
ceremony that will put him on the path to sainthood.
As the
Italian capital -- and the reference point for the world's one billion
plus Catholics -- prepares for the arrival of some 300,000 pilgrims for
the festivities, the late pope's face can be seen on billboards and
buses.
The souvenir shops and kiosks lining Via della
Conciliazione -- the main avenue to Saint Peter's Square -- are brimming
with images of Karol Wojtyla.
The late pope, who reigned between
1979 and 2005, is shown as a young man, praying, addressing crowds and
at the end of his life when he laboured on as head of the Church despite
suffering from advanced Parkinson's disease.
Bookshops are filled
with tomes about the late pope, side-by-side with current pope Benedict
XVI's bestselling biography of Jesus Christ.
A large souvenir
shop on the edge of the square has oil portraits of questionable taste
and a life-size statue next to which tourists pose.
John Paul II
is due to be beatified -- one step before full sainthood -- on May 1 at a
solemn mass in the Vatican.
The ceremony comes after Vatican
authorities said they had confirmed a miracle attributed to the pope.
A second confirmed miracle is required by the Church for saintly status.
Some
3,000 police officers, 1,200 sanitary workers and 2,500 volunteers will
be deployed for the three days of festivities, which coincide with
Labour Day.
Churches and museums will be open all night and there
will also be a series of exhibitions and concerts to honour the late
bishop of Rome.
But the spiritual side of the ceremonies takes
second place in the shops filled with pope souvenirs -- a beatification
can be a lucrative affair.
A simple poster of the pope is selling for 10 euros (15 dollars).
Rome
police have warned about abuses, including fake tickets sold on the
Internet for the beatification mass which is in fact free for the
public.
Thousands of knock-off watches bearing John Paul II's
image have also been seized by police and six hotels have been shut down
for abusive practices.
Elis Conrath, a Swiss tourist clutching a
John Paul II calendar, said she did not approve of the commercialisation
of the late pope.
"I bought this for a Catholic nun. It's important to her. But I don't like this big business much," she said.
Vatican
expert Bruno Bartoloni said: "It's a sort of fetishism that the Church
accepts because it thinks it will help promote its message."
At a
nearby convent, the deputy head of the Carmelite Order in Italy, Don
Giuseppe Midili said he wants no part in the business side of things and
is offering free scapulars -- a sort of amulet worn by devout
Catholics.
Midili said John Paul asked the convent for a new
scapular after the 1981 assassination attempt against him because his
old one was covered in blood.
He said: "We have decided not to ask
for any contribution. All this is offered for free just like we
received the pope's testimony of faith for free."