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Benedict joins Polish chorus for "Saint" John Paul

Posted on: Saturday, 27 May 2006, 09:12 CDT

By Philip Pullella and Natalia Reiter

KALWARIA ZEBRZYDOWSKA, Poland (Reuters) - Pope Benedict joined a chorus of Polish calls urging quick sainthood for his predecessor John Paul, saying he hoped the Catholic Church would soon bestow the honor on its favorite son.

Visiting John Paul's hometown of Wadowice in southern Poland, the German-born Pope, 79, on Saturday read to a cheering crowd a carefully worded statement in Polish saying he prayed John Paul "may soon be elevated to the glory of the altars."

Later, at a nearby shrine dear to the late pontiff, Krakow Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz -- John Paul's personal secretary during his 26-year papacy -- thanked Benedict for meeting the believers who prayed daily there for his swift canonization.

Benedict first read a prepared text in Polish and then, after a short exchange with Dziwisz, turned to the flag-waving crowd and made a rare off-the-cuff remark that left no doubt about what his formal statement in Wadowice meant.

"I would like to say that, like our dear archbishop Cardinal Stanislaw, I hope that Divine Providence will soon grant us the beatification and canonization of our dear pope John Paul II," he ad-libbed in Italian.

The crowd of several thousand at the hilltop shrine of Kalwaria Zebrzydowska cheered loudly when his words were translated into Polish. As in Wadowice, some held up banners saying "Santo Subito" (Make him a saint now).

SENTIMENTAL VISIT

Benedict's visit to Poland is a four-day pilgrimage to pay homage to John Paul and build a rapport with Poland, a deeply Catholic country he sees as a key ally in efforts to revive Christian beliefs and values in an increasingly secular Europe.

A more reserved man than his predecessor, he has delighted "John Paul's orphans" by reading his speeches partly in Polish.

Benedict put John Paul on the fast track to sainthood only a month after being elected to succeed him in April 2005.

While his case is moving ahead quickly, the Church requires proof of one miracle due to a candidate's intercession after death for beatification and proof of a second one for sainthood.

A French nun has claimed to have been inexplicably cured of Parkinson's disease -- the same affliction that struck John Paul in his final years -- after praying to the late pope.

The visit to Wadowice, a small town in the foothills of southern Poland's Tatra mountain, was a sentimental highpoint of the pilgrimage. About 30,000 people packed John Paul II Square in the heart of town waving Vatican and Polish flags.

"I wished to stop precisely here, in the place where his faith began and matured, to pray together with all of you that he may soon be elevated to the glory of the altars," he said.

That phrase, which refers to both beatification -- the last step before sainthood -- and canonization as a saint, was his first mention on his trip of his support for the cause.

Before addressing the crowd, Benedict prayed in the Baroque church where Karol Wojtyla was baptized and served as an altar boy and then toured a museum next door housing the two-room flat where the future pope lived during his childhood years.

Source: REUTERS

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