(ANSA) - Pope John Paul II could be beatified as early as June 2006, a highly placed Vatican official said on Tuesday.
Monsignor Henryk Hoser, assistant secretary at the Vatican's Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, said the beatification process for the Polish pontiff could move at "lightning speed".
Procedures leading to John Paul's beatification - which would put him on the penultimate rung of the ladder to sainthood - began last April, Msgr Hoser recalled in an interview with Catholic news agency I.Media.
A religious ceremony officially launching the process was held in Rome's Basilica of St John Lateran in June. The work began early for John Paul because his successor, Benedict XVI, waived a rule which normally allows the process to begin only five years after death. Benedict's move was prompted by a groundswell of approval, among Catholic faithful as well as cardinals, for a fast-track process for the late Polish pontiff, who died on April 2.
A beatification generally takes several years and sometimes decades. The fastest on record was that of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who was declared 'blessed' in 2003, six years after her death.
After the evidence has been gathered it will be compiled in a volume known as a 'positio' and presented to three Vatican panels for evaluation. Finally, it goes to the pope for final approval.
John Paul's cause is unlikely to be held up by the lack of a certified miracle, which is another requirement for beatification. Miracles, seen as a sign that God approves of the beatification, are usually unexplained healings which take place after a devotee prays to the candidate for 'divine
intercession'. The official coordinating John Paul's beatification process has said his office has already received several reports of alleged miracles.
