John Paul honored at vigil on eve of beatification [View All]

Source: AP

By NICOLE WINFIELD

ROME (AP) - Thousands of young people have flooded an ancient Roman field for an all-night prayer vigil honoring Pope John Paul II on the eve of his beatification, remembering his teachings, travels and his own suffering.

Pilgrims waving flags from Poland, Spain, Germany and Brazil on Saturday filled the Circus Maximus, which twinkled with the light of thousands of candles as choirs from John Paul's native Poland, the Philippines and Italy sang. They listened as a French nun who suffered from Parkinson's recounted how she was cured after praying to John Paul, who also battled the same disease.

The Vatican has decreed that Sister Marie Simone-Pierre's inexplicable healing was the miracle needed to beatify John Paul, a process that will reach its culmination Sunday during a Mass in St. Peter's Square celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI.

Benedict put John Paul on the fast-track for possible sainthood when he dispensed with the traditional five-year waiting period and allowed the beatification process to begin weeks after his April 2, 2005 death. Benedict was responding to chants of "Santo Subito" or "Sainthood Immediately" which erupted during John Paul's funeral.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20110501/D9MUBNK00.html

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A faithful prays in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Saturday, April 30, 2011, a day before late Pope John Paul II's beatification. Tens of thousands of people are converging on Rome for the beatification and many are expected to attend an all-night vigil in Rome's Circus Maximus. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)