Pope John Paul II had ''supernatural qualities,'' his successor Benedict XVI said on the third anniversary of the Polish pope's death.
Speaking at a commemorative mass, Benedict said ''among his many human and supernatural qualities, (John Paul) also had an exceptional spiritual and humanistic sensibility''.
Benedict prayed that John Paul would ''continue to intercede from heaven'' for himself and the rest of the world.
The pope recalled how after John Paul's death St Peter's became for several days ''the heart of the world'' with about two million faithful flocking to pay their respects.
John Paul's life, ''wholly devoted to knowing and contemplating the face of Christ,'' is now being vetted as he moves towards sainthood, Benedict recalled.
At a similar mass a year ago, John Paul moved a crucial step closer to sainthood.
Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the head of the Rome diocese and a longtime aide to John Paul, officially closed the first phase of the Polish pontiff's beatification process with a Latin rite.
A weighty dossier of 'evidence' of John Paul's holiness, gathered by the Rome diocese and the Polish diocese of Krakow from which he came, was formally handed over at the mass.
Also present was a French nun whose inexplicable recovery from Parkinson's disease, after she prayed to John Paul, is likely to be certified as the miracle which will qualify him for beatification.
Beatification is the intermediate stage on the way to being declared a saint. It means that someone can be called 'Blessed' and that the person can be venerated by Catholics in the place where he or she lived.
John Paul is still some way from beatification because his ''heroic virtue'' must be approved by theologians, historians and cardinals at the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
Over the last three years, officials leading the campaign for beatification have gathered information on John Paul's life, collected all his writings and heard testimony from some 130 people who knew him.
All the information has been condensed into a single document which will be examined by the three panels at the Congregation.
After beatification, another miracle is required before someone can be declared a saint, and officially venerated by Catholics everywhere. New reports of miracles attributed to John Paul's heavenly intervention are said to arrive in Rome every week.
During John Paul's funeral in 2005, crowds held up placards saying 'Santo Subito!', calling for the Polish pope to be declared a saint without going through the normal procedures.
Pope Benedict has already accelerated procedures for his predecessor, waiving a rule which says the process cannot begin until at least five years have passed after the candidate's death.
John Paul's 'cause' was opened three months after his death.
But Monsignor Slawomir Oder, who is heading the beatification campaign, has said he expects there to be no more short cuts and that the process will now proceed as normal.
In actual fact, John Paul's file will be given top priority, jumping to the top of the list of prospective saints whose causes are awaiting a decision from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
Vatican officials are tight-lipped about how long the process will take. In some cases it can take decades or even centuries, but, given Pope Benedict's explicit support, John Paul's cause is expected to be quick.
There has been speculation that October 16, 2008, might be chosen as a beatification date because this would be the 30th anniversary of John Paul's election as pope.
