It was said to have been the biggest ever gathering of Christianity. John Paul II’s funeral in Rome on 8 April 2005 saw over four million mourners gather in the city and billions more watched on television. Such was the Polish Pope’s popularity that during the course of it, cries of “Santo subito!” (sainthood now!) were heard, so it’s not surprising that the Vatican seems to have bent its own rules and put the Pontiff on the fast track to sainthood, starting with the beatification announced in January this year.
Beatification follows proof of a miracle, which in his case involved a French nun cured of Parkinson’s disease (from which John Paul himself suffered of course). Sister Marie Simon-Pierre’s condition disappeared two months after the Pope’s death after she and fellow nuns had prayed to him, and according to some reports written his name on a piece of paper.
A second miracle will need to be proved for sainthood to be conferred, but in the meantime the faithful will gather again in the Circus Maximus the evening of 30 April for a vigil and a mass will be held in St Peter’s Square on 1 May to celebrate the beatification and re-interment of the Pope’s body. Tradition has it that Popes who are beatified are moved from the crypt to the nave of the basilica. The coffin will not be opened.
