First phase of John Paul's sainthood cause ends

(April 2, 2007) The first phase of the cause of the beatification and canonization of Pope John Paul came to an end on the second anniversary of his death onMonday with the handing over of the documentation prepared by the Rome and Krakow dioceses to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The official ceremony took place at midday in the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral of the bishop of Rome, the Pope. Pope John Paul was archbishop of Krakow before he was elected pontiff in 1978. The Congregation for the Causes of Saints will now study the large volumes of documentation and transcripts and conduct further enquiries into Pope John Paul’s writings and spoken words before and after he became pope. A new set of medical experts will determine whether there is any miracle accredited to Pope John Paul’s intercession. A strong case for consideration is the unexplained cure of Sr. Marie Simon-Pierre, a 46-year-old French nun diagnosed with Parkinson's disease - the same disease that the late Pope had - until she said it inexplicably disappeared exactly two months after his death. She was present at the ceremony at St. John Lateran on Monday. A miracle would clear the way for Pope John Paul to be beatified. Another miracle after beatification would be required to declare him a saint. In May, 2005, Pope Benedict XVI put Pope John Paul on the fast track by dispensing with Church rules that normally impose a minimum five-year waiting period after a candidate's death before the procedure that leads to sainthood can even start. The diocesan phase that officially began on June 28, 2005, less than three months after his death, was complete in 21 months.
Various other programmes were held in Rome on Monday to commemorate the 2^nd anniversary of the Pope John Paul’s death. In the morning, the late pope’s long-time personal secretary, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, Archbishop of Krakow, concelebrated a memorial mass at the tomb of Pope John Paul in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica. On Monday afternoon Pope Benedict was to celebrate an open-air Mass in St. Peter’s Square commemorating John Paul II. Later at night Cardinal Dziwicz was to lead young people in a rosary prayer at the tomb of the late pope.