It was during the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005 that the campaign for his canonisation began. "Santo subito!" said Italian posters held up in the crowd. "Make him a saint straightaway!" Investigations into his cause have continued ever since and now, six years on, the veteran Vatican-watcher Andrea Tornelli has suggested that an alleged miracle linked to the intervention of the Polish pope has been confirmed as true by the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Tornielli, writing in the Milan paper Il Giornale, says that the congregation's medical panel has accepted that a French nun's recovery from Parkinson's disease was caused by John Paul's intercession. The miracle now has to be approved by a commission of bishops and cardinals before John Paul could be first beatified and then canonised.
There's always been unseemly haste about the canonisation of John Paul II. The church usually has a five-year "cooling-off" period following someone's death before they can be considered for sainthood – a sensible approach, given the emotions that surround someone's passing – but Pope Benedict waived this in the case of his predecessor.
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