Pope Benedict XVI has approved a miracle attributed to his predecessor, nudging John Paul II one step closer to sainthood.
In a decree Friday, the Pope confirmed that a French nun Sister Marie Simon-Pierre's recovery from Parkinson's disease was indeed miraculous, thanks to the intercession of John Paul.
When she went public with her story, the nun said she had been suffering the degenerative disease for four years when she prayed to John Paul II in June of 2005.
John Paul, who also suffered Parkinson's, was 84 years old when he died two months earlier.
All the symptoms disappeared overnight, Sister Marie Simon-Pierre told reporters in 2007, explaining that she never took another treatment again.
"My life has completely changed -- it was like a second birth for me," she said.
The conclusion her cure had no other scientific explanation -- approved by a Vatican-appointed panel of doctors, theologians, cardinals and bishops this week -- paves the way for Pope John Paul II to be beatified in the spring.
Beatification is the third of four steps on the path to sainthood. Once complete, he will be anointed with the title "Blessed," and his tomb will be moved from the crypt at St. Peter's Basilica, reportedly to the nave in the Chapel of St. Sebastian.
Answering the swell of public opinion in the wake of the Polish pontiff's death in 2005, Benedict decided to skip the five years that typically separate someone's death and the start of their ascendancy to sainthood.
"This is a hugely popular figure in the Roman Catholic Church, even when he was alive he was one of the most popular popes ever," Vatican correspondent Megan Williams told CTV News Channel Friday, explaining that Pope Benedict was simply heeding the will of the faithful.
The only other person to achieve beatification so quickly was Mother Theresa.
While John Paul II enjoyed the unwavering support of Catholics during his years as pope, the discovery of thousands of sexual abuse cases that were covered-up during his papacy have caused some to question his apparent fast-track toward sainthood.
Nevertheless, hundreds of thousands of faithful are expected to be in Rome on May 1, when Pope Benedict XVI himself will preside over the beatification ceremony. After that, a second miracle is needed for the canonization to be complete, though the Pope can also opt to waive that requirement.
Because the second miracle must occur after beatification, there's no saying exactly how long it might take before John Paul can take the last step to sainthood.
"In this case I think it's going to be sooner than later, because there's such a popular push to have Pope John Paul II become a saint," Williams said in an interview from Rome. "So there's going to be a lot of people looking for miracles to put before the Vatican."
Benedict put John Paul on the fast track to possible sainthood just weeks after he died in 2005, responding to the chants of "Santo Subito!" or "Sainthood immediately!" that erupted during his funeral.
His nearly 27 years in the Vatican made John Paul II the third longest-serving pope in history. He also went down in the record books as the most-travelled pontiff, with visits to more than 120 countries.
