Former secretary says he expects late pope's beatification in June

Published: 2005-10-18

WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- Pope John Paul II's former secretary has said he expects the late pontiff to be beatified in June, when Pope Benedict XVI is expected to make his first visit to Poland. "I hope it can happen as early as next year -- a lot of people yearn for him to be proclaimed a saint straight off," said Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow, who began serving as Pope John Paul's secretary in 1966, when the late pontiff was archbishop of Krakow. "No one doubts his sanctity, not only here in Krakow or in Poland. The whole world saw and knew him and has already canonized him in practice. The current beatification process serves to gain moral certainty," Archbishop Dziwisz said in an interview before John Paul II Day, celebrated Oct. 16 as a public holiday in the late pope's homeland. In an Oct. 16 interview with Italy's Avvenire daily, Archbishop Dziwisz said he personally knew of "many miraculous healings" through Pope John Paul's intercession and believed the pontiff's beatification awaited "only official confirmation" by his successor.

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