John Paul II Moves Closer To Sainthood

ROME — The first stage of Pope John Paul II's road to sainthood has been completed in record time, the Vatican said.

Monsignor Slawomir Oder, the priest in charge of collecting the proof of the late pope's saintliness, said yesterday that the process was moving with "huge speed."

Pope Benedict XVI put his predecessor on a fast-track to sainthood shortly after he passed away in April 2005.

For the past two years, Monsignor Oder has gathered hundreds of testimonies of John Paul's apparent ability to enact miracles, ranging from easing difficult pregnancies, to curing tumors and Parkinson's.

The evidence will now be passed to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The beatification of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, the fastest to date, took six years.