Scottish Catholic Observer

The Canonisation of Blessed John Paul II moved a significant step closer this week, with reports suggesting the former Pope could be made a saint by the end of this year.

The medical council of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints confirmed yesterday that a second supposed miracle has taken place attributed to the intercession of the late Holy Father. If Vatican theologians and cardinals, and then Pope Francis, also approve this suggested miracle, Pope John Paul II will be on course to be elevated to sainthood just eight years after his death, in 2005.

The Polish Pope— elected in 1978, the longest serving pontiff in history (surviving an assassination attempt)  and the first non-Italian Pope since 1523—was declared Blessed at a Mass celebrated by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI on May 1, 2011.

The Beatification of the longest serving Pope in history resulted from the inexplicable cure of a French nun, Sr Marie Simon-Pierre, who had Parkinson’s disease. Her cure was attributed to Pope John Paul’s intercession with God to perform a miracle.

In January of this year, Mgr Slawomir Oder, the postulator of the cause for Blessed John Paul II’s Canonisation, submitted a presumed miraculous healing to the Vatican Congregation for the Saints for a preliminary opinion. Two doctors of the Vatican Council had previously examined the new case, both giving a favourable opinion, before it was reported on Monday that the medical council had also given a favourable opinion towards the suggested miracle.

This must also now be approved by theologians and then by the cardinals and bishops of the congregation, before being submitted to Pope Francis for the definitive ‘yes.

Blessed John Paul II is fondly remembered by thousands of Catholics, and non-Catholics alike. His Papal visit to Scotland in 1982, the first by a reigning Pope, made such an impression on the Faithfull here that it ended with pilgrims at Bellahouston Park singing Will ye no come back again as the late Holy Father left after celebrating Mass. His legacy lives on in this country. The Sisters of the Gospel of Life—which, in 2000, became the first new female religious community to be formed in Scotland for more than 150 years—is named after Blessed John Paul II’s encyclical letter, The Gospel of Life.

Pic: Pope John Paul II kisses Scottish soil upon arriving in the country in 1982, the first reigning Pope to visit Scotland. He is seen here with the late Cardinal Gordon Gray