Pope Francis has approved the canonisations of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII— in the latter case waiving the requirement for a second miracle.
Papal spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said both canonisations could take place before the end of this year, and Vatican journalists are speculating that both pontiffs could be declared saints at the same ceremony, an event that would bring huge crowds to the Vatican.
Church rules for beatification and canonisation ordinarily require the confirmation of two miracles — one before a candidate is beatified and a second subsequent miracle to qualify for canonisation.
But in the case of “Good Pope John”, who convened the Second Vatican Council in 1962, Pope Francis used his authority to dispense with the requirement for a second miracle.
The original miracle due to John XXIII’s intercession was the cure of an Italian nun with internal bleeding from ulcers, who was close to death after having three-quarters of her stomach and her spleen removed.
The decision to canonise John Paul II — whose funeral in 2005 rang with chants of “Santo Subito!” (Sainthood now!) — will mean his sainthood is recognised a little more than eight years after his death, faster than for any other person in the modern era.
The first miracle attributed to John Paul II concerned the healing of a French nun from Parkinson’s disease, an ailment that also affected the late pope.
The second miracle, now accepted by Pope Francis, involved the healing of a Costa Rican woman whose brain aneurysm disappeared after she prayed to John Paul II.
Floribeth Mora told reporters in San Jose, Costa Rica, that her family built an altar to John Paul II outside her house, and while she was watching the late pope’s beatification in 2011 she picked up a magazine and, while looking at a photo of the pope, started to hear a voice.
“It said, ‘Get up, don’t be afraid,'” Mora said. She stood up and felt instantly better, and a variety of medical exams revealed that her aneurysm had simply disappeared.
Mora showed reporters photos of her brain taken before and after the purported miracle.
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Image: St Louis Review