Calls grow for John Paul's beatification

Hundreds of letters and e-mails 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 cleric spearheading his case said today.

Polish Monsignor Slawomir Oder said his office had been overwhelmed by the “explosion” of correspondence it had received from people ever 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 the Polish-born John Paul that he had just received in the mail from a Pole.

“In this mass of letters that have arrived, surely some merit further in-depth investigation that could spark a more profound inquiry,” about a possible medical miracle, he said.

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 and allowed John Paul’s beatification cause to begin immediately.

The move was in response to the groundswell of calls for him to be canonised, including chants of “Santo Subito!” or “Sainthood Immediately!” that erupted during John Paul’s April 8 funeral mass.