Never mind that millions are dead because of the church's policy on
condoms and AIDS. Or the sexual abuse. Or the church's treatment of
women. etc.
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John Paul sainthood cause launched, court sworn in
By Shasta DarlingtonTue Jun 28, 3:19 PM ET
Pope John Paul, considered a saint by many Roman Catholics even before
he died in April, was formally launched on the road toward sainthood on
Tuesday.
A six-man tribunal -- including John Paul's postulator or defender, a
judge and a "devil's advocate" who will look into objections to the
cause -- was sworn in at an emotional ceremony at St. John Lateran
Basilica in Rome.
Speaking in Latin, they took vows of secrecy and swore not to accept any
gifts related to the case. "We pray to God, with all of our hearts, that
the beatification and canonization cause started this evening can
quickly reach its crowning," Rome's Cardinal Camillo Ruini said to
chants of "John Paul!" and loud applause.
Waiving Catholic rules that require a five-year waiting period after a
candidate has died, the Rome diocese opened the procedure to beatify
John Paul less than three months after his death. Italian media said it
was a record.
"It's certainly the fastest opening of a beatification procedure in
modern history, at least since the Middle Ages," said Giovanni Maria
Vian, a professor of religious history at La Sapienza university.
Beatification requires a miracle after the candidate's death and is the
first step toward canonisation, which requires a second miracle.
Ruini on Tuesday said John Paul's faith, his suffering later in life and
the "blood spilled" during an assassination attempt in 1981 were all
signs of his holiness.
The priest promoting the cause, Monsignor Slawomir Oder, will present
the tribunal with the evidence he has collected as well as a list of
witnesses prepared to testify.
LETTERS AND EMAILS
On Monday, Oder told Reuters he had been inundated with emails and
letters attesting to miracles brought about thanks to the late pontiff's
intervention with God.
"We've been at a level of 80 to 100 (emails and letters) a day ... They
have come from all over the world, even from non-believers," he said.
He said he could not reveal the details of the messages recounting
miracles, but many stories were circulating even before the Polish pope
had died.
In one often cited example, a Mexican boy who had been diagnosed with
terminal cancer reportedly staged an inexplicable recovery after meeting
John Paul.
At his funeral on April 8, crowds chanted "Santo Subito!" (Make him a
saint now!) and held up banners attesting to John Paul's saintly ways.
Last month, Pope Benedict dispensed with the rules to put his
predecessor on the fast track to possible sainthood.
John Paul did the same for Mother Teresa, but even in her case, the
process only began two years after her death.
"But the quick start doesn't mean John Paul will be the fastest saint
ever made," La Sapienza's Vian said, noting that experts will have to
review everything that Karol Wojtyla wrote before he was elected pope
and during his long papacy.
The flood of emails and support could also slow things up since it will
create more work for the investigators, he said.
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http://tinyurl.com/8sddm
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John Hachmann aa #1782
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities"
-Voltaire
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