ROME, OCT. 15, 2008 (Zenit.org).-The cause of canonization for Pope John Paul II is proceeding meticulously, according to the traditional process stipulated by canon law, says the postulator.
Monsignor Slawomir Oder spoke about the process Monday at the presentation of the book, «Giovanni Paolo II, parroco di Roma» (John Paul II, pastor of Rome), published by the Lateran University Press.
«As we know,» the Polish prelate said, «on April 2, 2007, the process of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes began. In this moment, we are in the phase of preparing the ‘positio super virtutibus.'»
Last March, Monsignor Oder turned in a semi-definitive version of the «positio,» which has close to 2,000 pages.
«In my work,» he said Monday, «I have always kept in mind the words I heard personally from Benedict XVI, who many times publicly demonstrated his lively interest in the cause: ‘Work quickly, but well, in an irreproachable way.'»
«The words of the Pope are in force in this moment of the procedure and affect all the people involved,» the postulator said.
«This fact,» the monsignor continued, «on one hand keeps me very serene because I am aware that the work done till now has been carried out in fidelity to the words of the Pope; on the other hand, it gives me a confident and patient anticipation, so that the current phase, as well, develops with the seriousness and the rigor proper to this type of canonical process.»
He has never committed himself to giving a possible date of beatification.
Benedict XVI did dispense with the five-year wait period that normally must follow the death of the would-be saint before the canonization cause can open.
