Flood of letters on ‘medical miracles’ of JP II

HUNDREDS of letters and emails testifying to the late Pope John Paul II’s saintliness have arrived in Rome in recent weeks in support of his beatification cause.

These include reports of possible medical miracles attributed to him, the Polish cleric spearheading his case said yesterday.

Monsignor Slawomir Oder said his office had been overwhelmed by an "explosion" of correspondence since the public was invited to write to the Diocese of Rome about John Paul's virtues last month.

"The thing that surprises me is the great love that comes out in these letters people who feel the moral need to pay a debt for what they have received from the Pope," Oder said as he leafed through a hand-written letter of poetry dedicated to John Paul that he had just received from a fellow Pole.

The Vatican must confirm a miracle has occurred after the Pope's death for him to be beatified; a second miracle after beatification is needed for him to be declared a saint.

John Paul's beatification cause officially opens on Tuesday, when Oder and others involved in the case will take an oath promising to keep the testimony of witnesses secret and to not accept "any type of gift" that might corrupt the process.

Pope Benedict XVI announced on May 13 that he had waived the traditional five-year waiting period in response to the groundswell of calls for his canonisation.

Pope Benedict, meanwhile, announced yesterday that he would summon a special synod of Catholic bishops to discuss the church's role in solving the problems of Africa.

"I hope this meeting will mark another impulse for the African continent for evangelisation, the consolidation and growth of the Church and the promotion of reconciliation and peace," he said of the synod.