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Vatican confirms John Paul II will be made a saint

Pope John XXIII who called the Second Vatican Council will also be made a saint

Pope John Paul II prepares to leave Ireland on an Aer Lingus plane at Shannon Airport following his Papal visit to Ireland in 1979. Photograph: Dermot O’Shea/The Irish Times
Pope John Paul II prepares to leave Ireland on an Aer Lingus plane at Shannon Airport following his Papal visit to Ireland in 1979. Photograph: Dermot O’Shea/The Irish Times
Fri Jul 05 2013 - 12:48

The late Pope John Paul II will be made a saint, the Vatican confirmed today, announcing that Pope Francis had approved a second miracle attributed to the Polish pontiff, who led the Roman Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005.

The Vatican said Pope John XXIII, who reigned from 1958 to 1963 and called the Second Vatican Council - which enacted sweeping reforms to modernise the Church - would also be made a saint.

No dates for the canonisation ceremonies were immediately given but the Vatican said they were expected by the end of the year.

Pope John Paul II waves to the crowd at the opening of a public mass at Downsview Park in July 2002 during the conclusion of World Youth Day in Toronto, Canada. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Pope John Paul II waves to the crowd at the opening of a public mass at Downsview Park in July 2002 during the conclusion of World Youth Day in Toronto, Canada. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images
The late Pope John Paul II will be made a saint, the Vatican confirmed today, announcing that Pope Francis had approved a second miracle attributed to the Polish pontiff, who led the Roman Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005. Photograph: Vincenzo Pinto/Reuters
The late Pope John Paul II will be made a saint, the Vatican confirmed today, announcing that Pope Francis had approved a second miracle attributed to the Polish pontiff, who led the Roman Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005. Photograph: Vincenzo Pinto/Reuters

John Paul had already been credited with asking God to cure French nun Marie Simon-Pierre Normand of Parkinson’s disease, which helped lead to his beatification in 2011, when he was declared a “blessed” of the Church.

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Two confirmed miracles are usually required under Vatican rules for the declaration of a saint.

The second miracle attributed to John Paul's intercession is the inexplicable curing of a woman from Costa Rica who prayed to him for help with her medical condition on the day of his beatification. Details of that miracle were due to be announced in Costa Rica today.

In the case of Pope John XXIII, who was known as the "good pope", Francis waved the customary rules which require a second miracle after beatification, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said. John XXIII was beatified in 2000.

Reuters