John Paul II celebrated amid sainthood pleas

CATHOLICS around the world marked the third anniversary of Pope John Paul’s death yesterday and Vatican officials said they were receiving a steady stream of pleas from the faithful convinced he was a saint.

Pope Benedict, John Paul’s successor, presided at a solemn mass before tens of thousands of people in St Peter’s Square, from the same spot on the steps of the basilica where John Paul’s simple wooden coffin lay three years ago.

“For many days, the Vatican basilica and this very square were really the heart of the world,” Benedict said in his sermon, as members in the crowd waved flags of the late pope’s Polish homeland and banners bearing his image.