Reports of miracles flood in
12/04/2005 09:19  - (SA)  

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Vatican City - An American Jew cured of a brain tumour after attending Mass with Pope John Paul II. A Mexican boy stricken with leukaemia who recovered after a papal kiss. Even a cardinal who regained his ability to speak after John Paul touched his throat.

Italian newspapers have been rife with reports of alleged miracles attributed to Pope John Paul II, fuelling speculation he may soon be put on the path to sainthood.

Vatican rules, though, are clear: For a miracle to be considered in the saint-making process, it has to have occurred after John Paul's death. So far, all the reports stem from inexplicable cures that occurred while John Paul was very much alive.

But that hasn't stopped the frenzy surrounding popular calls for John Paul to be put on the fast-track to sainthood, spurred by the spontaneous chants of "Santo, Santo" that erupted during his funeral on Friday.

Archbishop Edward Nowak, secretary in the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, added to the speculation on Monday after he was quoted as saying a decision on starting the saint-making process could come as early as October, when bishops from around the world meet in Rome.

Nowak, like John Paul a Pole, stressed that historians and theologians would still have to gather all the necessary documentation to start a case for beatifying John Paul, the first step in the process.

But he said such work, which usually takes years if not centuries, could be completed in a mere six months.

As for miracles, Nowak concurred all the letters the Vatican had received so far of supposed miraculous cures wouldn't count toward John Paul's saintliness.

"But since you only need one for beatification and one for canonisation, if there are so many of these 'signs' that you hear about, it shouldn't be difficult to have new ones," he told the newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Vatican procedures in place for about 500 years require one miracle for someone to be beatified and a second to be canonised. There has been speculation that a new pope might do away with those procedures and simply declare John Paul a saint based on popular acclaim. - AP

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