Servo di Dio Giovanni Paulo II
CAUSE FOR JOHN PAUL II’S SAINTHOOD OPENED; JOHN PAUL II NOW "SERVANT OF GOD"
Pope Benedict said Friday he had opened the process for the sainthood of Pope John Paul, overriding the usual five-year waiting period following the death of a possible candidate.
The Pope made the announcement in Latin during a meeting with Roman clergy at the Basilica of St. John Lateran. Immediately following Pope John Paul’s death on April 2, there were calls from faithful for his sainthood. At his funeral mass pilgrims held up banners saying "Santo Subito," or "Immediate Sainthood," in English.
The announcement came on the anniversary of a 1981 assassination attempt against John Paul in St. Peters square.
The priests in St John’s Basilica broke into sustained applause when he made his comments in Latin, the official language of the Church. He then joked that there was no need to repeat it in Italian since they all understood.
The Pope read a letter in which the Vatican official in charge of sainthood, Jose Saraiva Cardinal Martins, announced that Benedict himself had authorized the beginning of John Paul’s path to sainthood.
"And now I have a very joyous piece of news for you," Benedict said in Italian before making the announcement. Benedict, who had been seated, stood up to join the clergy in applauding the major tribute to his predecessor.
Testament regarding the opening of John Paul II’s cause for sainthood
Congregation for the Causes of Saints
Instante Em.mo ac Rev.mo Domino D. Camillo S.R.E. Cardinali Ruini, Vicario Generali Suae Sanctitatis pro Dioecesi Romana, Summus Pontifex BENEDICTUS XVI, attentis peculiaribus expositis adiunctis, in audentia eidem Cardinali Vicario Generali die 28 mensis Aprilis huius anni 2005 concessa, dispensavit a tempore quinque annorum exspectationis post mortem Servi Dei Ioannis Pauli II (Caroli Wojtyla), Summi Pontificis, ita ut causa Beatificationis et Canonizationis eiusdem Servi Dei statim incipi posset. Contrariis non obstantibus quibuslibet.
Datum Romae, ex aedibus huius Congregationis de Causis Sanctorum, die 9 mensis Maii A.D. 2005.
Iosephus Card. Saraiva Martins
Praefectus
Congregationis de Causis Sanctorum
Eduardus Nowak
Archiepiscopus tit. Lunensis
a Secretis
