John Paul II approved by Vatican for sainthood

VATICAN CITY—The late Pope John Paul II will be made a saint, the Vatican said on Friday, announcing that Pope Francis had approved a second miracle attributed to the Polish pontiff who led the Roman Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005.

The Vatican said Pope John XXIII, who reigned from 1958 to 1963 and called the Second Vatican Council, would also be made a saint, even though there has been no second miracle attributed to his intercession.

The Vatican said Francis approved a decision by cardinals and bishops.

The ceremonies are expected before the end of the year. The date of Dec. 8 has been floated as a possibility, given it's the feast of the Immaculate Conception, a major feast day for the church.

John Paul’s successor, Pope Benedict XVI, accelerated the process of sainthood for the Polish pontiff.

Five weeks after John Paul’s death, Benedict began the process by declaring John Paul beatified, waiving the five-year rule. He invoked “exceptional circumstances” but is generally believed to have been swayed by the immense popularity of the man he replaced.

The beatification ceremony was held May 1, 2011.

At John Paul’s funeral, crowds chanted “Santo Subito” or “saint immediately.”

The second miracle attributed to John Paul occurred on the day of his beatification and was certified on June 18, 2013, by a group of physicians and theologians, the Vatican Insider reported. Prayers to John Paul are said to have cured a Costa Rican woman of her brain damage.

The first miracle is said to have occurred in 2005 when a French nun was cured of Parkinson’s disease after her order prayed to the late pontiff.