VATICAN CITY (AP) -- The pope has approved a miracle attributed to Pope John Paul II's intercession and set May 1 as the date for the beloved pontiff to be beatified.
Pope Benedict XVI declared in a decree Friday, January 14th that the cure of a French nun who suffered from Parkinson's disease was miraculous, the last step needed for the beatification.
The May 1 ceremony is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to Rome to celebrate one of the most popular popes of all time.
Once he is beatified, John Paul will be given the title "blessed" and can be publicly venerated. Many people, already venerate him privately, but the ceremony will make it official.
A second miracle is needed for John Paul to be made a saint.
Benedict put John Paul on the fast track to possible sainthood just weeks after he died in 2005, responding to the chants of "Santo Subito!" or "Sainthood immediately!" that erupted during his funeral.
Father Mike Kuse at Blessed Sacrament Church in Quincy says it is extremely unusual for the path to sainthood to go so quickly.
He says this is the fastest he can remember in recent times.
When we asked him what this means to the Catholic church, he said this is similar to honoring someone in a local community.
He said it doesn't mean that person is perfect, but their accomplishment are astonishing.
"I think it's a sign of hope. Sometimes you deal with so many negative things in the world. And it doesn't mean that someone who is declared a saint is perfect in everyway, it's just saying that excepting all of their faults and sins, their life still was extraordinary in touching other people," said Father Kuse.
Father Kuse wants to remind people that even though it seems like Pope John II is on the fast track to sainthood, the process could still take several years.
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