John Paul II step closer to sainthood

0 Comments | AFP, April, 2007

VATICAN CITY (AFP) — The late John Paul II came closer to sainthood on Monday as the Rome diocese completed the case for his beatification, including a "miracle" cure attributed to the charismatic Polish pope.

The beatification process is "advancing rapidly", Pope Benedict XVI said as he celebrated mass in Saint Peter's Square to commemorate the second anniversary of the death of John Paul II.

Thousands of Poles were among the pilgrims attending the mass after a solemn ceremony at Rome's Basilica San Giovanni in Laterano earlier Monday in which the weighty dossier on the late pope's "life, virtues and reputation for saintliness" was sealed into special metal cases.

John Paul II spread "the aroma of faith, hope and charity in the Church and the entire world"...