The move by Pope Benedict means John Paul, who died in 2005 after a papacy of nearly 27 years, will be beatified, the last step before sainthood. The ceremony will take place on 1 May in Rome.
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| Sister Marie Simon-Pierre The miracle concerned Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, a French nun diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, from which Pope John Paul himself suffered. She said her illness inexplicably disappeared two months after his death after she and her fellow nuns prayed to him. Church-appointed doctors agreed there was no medical explanation for her being cured. Another miracle occurring after the date of the beatification ceremony – which will confer the title "Blessed" on John Paul – will have to be approved before he can be canonised and thereby made a saint. Crowds at John Paul's funeral in 2005 chanted "santo subito" ("make him a saint right now"). In May 2005, a month after John Paul II's death, Benedict suspended church rules that normally impose a five-year waiting period after a candidate's death before the procedure that leads to sainthood can start. Read more Pope John Paul II nears sainthood |
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