Vatican City
The late John Paul II came a step closer to sainthood this week when Vatican officials closed their investigation into his life and virtues. John Paul II has been on a fast track to sainthood ever since his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, waived the five-year waiting period and began the investigation just 41 days after his death. John Paul can be declared a saint once the Vatican certifies that he has performed two posthumous miracles. One is already recorded: the recovery of a French nun who says she was cured of Parkinson’s disease after praying to John Paul. Pope Benedict said he could already hear “the living voice” of John Paul II singing with the saints in heaven.
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