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July 4, 2005 
VOL.
43, NO. 13Oakland,
CA
Aide wants John Paul beatified by August
ROME—A solemn ceremony in Rome’s cathedral,
accompanied by applause, tears and chanting, set Pope John Paul II on
the road to sainthood with unprecedented speed June 28, less than three
months after his death.
The late pope’s longtime secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz,
said he hopes John Paul is beatified by the end of the summer.
“We ask the Lord with all our heart that the cause of beatification
and canonization that opened this evening may arrive very quickly at its
crowning,” Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the pope’s vicar general
for Rome, declared.
Leaders of church and state, Romans and pilgrims filled the Basilica of
St. John Lateran for a vespers service and swearing-in of Ruini and the
six members of a panel that will take testimony on the life, virtues and
eventual miracles to be attributed to the Polish-born John Paul.
Young boys in Polish national costume waved Polish and Vatican flags,
and some members of the congregation wiped tears from their eyes.
Dziwisz, who was John Paul’s secretary for 39 years and was recently
named to John Paul’s former post in Krakow, sat with head bowed.
Dziwisz told the Polish news agency PAP that he would like to see John
Paul’s beatification announced at World Youth Day in Germany this
summer, cutting to months a process that often takes decades and sometimes
centuries.
“My dream, even if I know it is far-fetched, is that (Pope) Benedict
XVI will make this announcement in August in Cologne during World Youth
Day,” the prelate said.
An outpouring of popular support for John Paul’s canonization began
immediately after his death on April 2. Some 3 million pilgrims stood
in line for up to 18 hours to pay their last respects to the pope, and
mourners unfurled banners reading “Santo Subito (Saint Immediately)”
at his funeral.
Benedict cleared the way for the proceedings to begin when he announced
on May 13 that he had
waived the required five-year waiting period after a candidate’s
death.
John Paul took similar action in the cause of Mother Teresa of Calcutta,
but not until 18 months after her death in 1997. He proclaimed her blessed
in October 2003 during celebrations of the 25th anniversary of his pontificate.
Mourners hold a banner that reads "Sainthood
immediately", during a funeral Mass for Pope John Paul II in the
Vatican's St Peter's Square, April 9, 2005. Vatican rules say the long
process leading to sainthood cannot start until five years after the death
of the candidate so emotions have time to calm down. But the new pope
could waive the rule and let the procedure start earlier as Pope John
Paul II did for Mother Teresa. REUTERS/Yves Herman
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