‘The process of canonizing John Paul II will likely take time, the cardinal in charge of the Vatican’s saint-making office said Saturday, a day after Pope Benedict XVI called for fast-track sainthood for the late pontiff.

Benedict on Friday announced he was lifting the mandatory five-year waiting period for the start of the process toward beatification, the last formal step before possible canonization.

Right after John Paul’s death on April 2, his admirers, ranging from rank-and-file faithful to top cardinals, began calling for rapid sainthood for the pontiff, who led the Roman Catholic church for 26 years.

“It’s a wonderful gesture,” Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, who heads the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints, told La Stampa in an interview published Saturday.

But waiving the waiting time does not imply dispensing with rigorous procedures, the cardinal noted. Those steps include reviewing writings of the late pope and interviewing those who knew him.

Then, for beatification, a miracle, attributed to John Paul’s intercession after his death, must then be declared authentic after a Vatican-appointed panel of medical experts rule out any worldly explanation for the healing.’

Read more at Cardinal: Sainthood Process Takes Time

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