Sainthood for the pope

last updated 8 January 2015

Rome

The push to beatify John Paul II began just days after his death, when Italian papers reported that he had “miraculously” cured an American of a brain tumor. The late pope’s private secretary, Stanislaw Dziwisz, told Italian newspapers that in 1998 the pope gave the man Communion without knowing he was Jewish; a few weeks later, the man’s tumor disappeared. The incident by itself won’t qualify John Paul II for sainthood, because a saint must have performed a miracle after death, not just in life. But the story indicates that momentum is growing to fast-track the beatification process, which normally can’t begin until five years after death. John Paul II, who beatified more people than all other popes combined, waived that requirement for Mother Teresa.