Beatification of Pope John Paul to attract 50,000 Poles

TRAVELLING on a fleet of planes, trains and cars, more than 50,000 Poles are expected to flock to the Vatican for the beatification of “their” saint-to-be, Polish-born Pope John Paul II.

The funeral of Karol Wojtyla in April 2005 drew half a million Poles.

While his fast-track beatification this Sunday, May 1 — a key step towards canonisation as a saint — is a cause for joy among his countrymen, it nonetheless isn’t generating the same kind of mass pilgrimage to Rome this time around.