Pope John Paul, considered a saint by many Roman Catholics even before he died in April, was formally launched on the road towards sainthood today.
Rev Giuseppe D'Alonzo
A six-man tribunal, including John Paul's postulator or defender, a judge and a “devil's advocate” who will look into objections to the cause, was sworn in at an emotional ceremony at St. John Lateran Basilica in Rome.
Speaking in Latin, they took vows of secrecy and swore not to accept any gifts related to the case.
“We pray to God, with all of our hearts, that the beatification and canonisation cause started this evening can quickly reach its crowning,” Rome's Cardinal Camillo Ruini said to chants of “John Paul!” and loud applause.
Waiving Catholic rules that require a five-year waiting period after a candidate has died, the Rome diocese opened the procedure to beatify John Paul less than three months after his death. Italian media said it was a record.
“It's certainly the fastest opening of a beatification procedure in modern history, at least since the Middle Ages,“ said Giovanni Maria Vian, a professor of religious history at La Sapienza university.
Beatification requires a miracle after the candidate's death and is the first step towards canonisation, which requires a second miracle.
Cardinal Ruini today said John Paul's faith, his suffering later in life and the “blood spilt” during an assassination attempt in 1981 were all signs of his holiness.
The priest promoting the cause, Monsignor Slawomir Oder, will present the tribunal with the evidence he has collected as well as a list of witnesses prepared to testify.