Pope's path to sainthood

[emad]

Pope's path to sainthood
Many call for new pontiff to fast-track John Paul’s candidacy, but the prospect troubles others

May 6, 2005


VATICAN CITY -- In the unadorned quarters devoted to processing candidates for sainthood, the trappings of devotion, such as statues, medals, relics and portraits with halos, are nowhere to be found.

At this corner of St. Peter's Square, the crowds' chanting of "Santo Subito" at Pope John Paul II's funeral could be heard clearly. The question now is whether Pope Benedict XVI, his successor, will respond to the popular demand of "sainthood now."

"The Holy Father will decide what he decides," said Msgr. Robert Sarno, a Brooklyn priest who is a key official in the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the division in the Roman Catholic Church's bureaucracy where 350 cases for sainthood are already pending. There is about a 15-year wait for a tribunal to consider their merits before sending a recommendation to the pope. Even before John Paul was buried, though, cardinals began calling for his sainthood. Reports of miraculous cures that would support the case already are streaming into the Vatican.

Pope Benedict "could say there is enough proof from the massive acclamation we have seen in recent weeks," Sarno said. And that would allow the church to capitalize on the "tremendous moment of evangelization" provided by the worldwide media coverage of John Paul's death, he added. To declare him a saint immediately, Benedict would have to suspend the requirement that five years must pass before the process begins and, more significantly, suspend the rule that two miracles must be attributed to the late pope.

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/ny-wosain084247420may06,0,72556.story?coll=ny-worldnews-headlines

[electropop]

1. Back in the day there was a requirement...

...that you had to be a good person before becoming a saint. How many babies were born and starved to death, thanks to JPII's stubborn refusal to understand why birth control is necessary?

[Stuckinthebush]

2. Why do the masses want him to be a saint?

I don't get it. What does this accomplish to have him declared a saint by the church right now?

[emad]

3. Ahem. The Rome trial of 'God's Banker' Roberto Calvi resumes

later this year.

It's gonna take a miracle to exonerate Marcinkus, Papa Ratzi and all the other P2 Lodge members from this scam.

Marcinkus has enjoyed immunity from prosecution for the last 20 years because Bush1 gave it to him, on the grounds that Calvi 'clearly suicided himself'.

That was before City of London cops proved the forensics showed it was murder......