John Paul Deserves His Sainthood

Rome in throes of 'beatification fever'

(NEWSER) - Move over, wedding fever: “Beatification fever” has begun. Tens of thousands are arriving in Rome for the beatification of Pope John Paul II , for which the pontiff’s coffin was exhumed today. As Vatican officials—including John Paul’s closest aide, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz—watched and prayed, the coffin was lifted from the crypts under St. Peter’s Basilica, Reuters reports. It will rest in front of the Basilica’s main altar. More»

Faithful will be able to pray before it at John Paul's May ceremony

(NEWSER) - The coffin of John Paul II will be exhumed for his beatification ceremony in May, reports Reuters . It will remain closed, but the faithful will be able to pray before it at the Vatican. About a million people are expected at the ceremony—which will bring John Paul one step closer to sainthood—and the Vatican is warning its flock in the meantime to watch out for online scam artists selling tickets. The event is free, and none are needed. John Paul was fast-tracked for beatification last month. More»

Benedict expected to beatify him this year

(NEWSER) - John Paul II's fast track to sainthood gets even faster this week. A Vatican panel has concluded that the former pontiff did indeed perform a miracle—a nun says her Parkinson's disappeared after she prayed to him—and will present its findings to Pope Benedict within days, reports Reuters . Benedict is expected to approve the miracle, then set a date for beatification later this year. That would bring John Paul one step from canonization, at which point he'll need either one more miracle or a waiver from Benedict. A Guardian columnist thinks the fast pace (it usually takes decades) is a mistake. More»

(AP) - A 19th-century Belgian priest who ministered to leprosy patients in Hawaii will be declared a saint October 11, the AP reports. In July, Pope Benedict XVI approved a miracle attributed to Rev. Damien de Veuster's intercession, declaring that a Honolulu woman's recovery in 1999 from terminal lung cancer was the miracle needed for him to be made a saint. De Veuster was beatified—a step toward sainthood—in 1995 by Pope John Paul II. More»

New Vatican rules will make getting a halo a little harder

(NEWSER) - The Vatican is moving to slow traffic on the road to sainthood, the BBC reports. Critics accused the Vatican of becoming a "saint factory" under the late Pope John Paul II, who created more saints than all his predecessors combined. The new, more rigorous guidelines under Benedict XVI require candidates to have "a true reputation for holiness." More»