2005-04-12


The cardinals chosen to elect a successor to Pope John Paul II have come up against another issue.  There is now pressure to declare him a Saint. It started during his funeral with mourners shouting out  'Santo, Santo' and 'Saint now'.  Italian newspapers have reported that people have been writing to the vatican, telling of the healing they had attributed to the pope.  A petition is said to be already circulating among the cardinals, seeking signatures for the cannonization.

If this happens, John Paul will only be the fourth pope to be made a saint in 900 years.