Pope says he will allow JPII's sainthood cause to open immediately

Published: 2005-05-13

ROME (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI announced May 13 that he was allowing the immediate opening of Pope John Paul II's cause for sainthood, setting aside the five-year waiting period called for by church law. Pope Benedict made the announcement at the end of a speech to the priests of the Diocese of Rome gathered for a meeting and a dialogue with him at the Basilica of St. John Lateran. Finishing his prepared speech to the priests, the pope said he had a "joyful announcement" to make before he listened to the priests' comments and questions. He then read, in Latin, a letter from Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for Saints' Causes, to Cardinal Camillo Ruini, papal vicar of Rome. The letter said that at an April 28 audience, Pope Benedict, "considering the special circumstances that were explained," had decided "to dispense from the five-year period of waiting after the death of the servant of God, Pope John Paul II."

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