VATICAN CITY, MAY 29, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The vicar for the Diocese of Rome promulgated an edict that seeks testimonies about the holiness of Pope John Paul II, and all copies of his unpublished writings.
The edict written by Cardinal Camillo Ruini was published on the front page of today’s Italian edition of L’Osservatore Romano. It will also be displayed for two months on the doors of the Vicariate of Rome and in the archdiocesan curia of Krakow, Poland.
On May 13, Benedict XVI exempted the opening of his predecessor’s cause of beatification from the five-year waiting period established by canon law.
Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for Sainthood Causes, explained then that the Diocese of Rome, John Paul II’s diocese, must be the actor of the cause of beatification.
The postulator must collect the documents and prepare a list of witnesses who will attest to John Paul II’s heroic virtues, added the cardinal.
Eventually, the process will call for the recognition of a miracle realized after Pope John Paul II’s death and attributed to his intercession. He died April 2.
Diaries, letters, etc.
After announcing the formal opening of the cause of beatification and canonization, the edict invites “all the faithful to communicate directly to us or to send to the Diocesan Tribunal of the Vicariate of Rome (Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano, 6 — 00184, Rome) all information favorable or opposed” to Pope John Paul II’s “fame for holiness.”
“Given that, according to the legal dispositions, all the writings attributed to him must be collected, with this edict we order all those who are in possession of them that they send with due diligence to the same tribunal any writing that has the servant of God as its author, unless it has already been handed in to the postulation of the cause,” says the edict.
“We remind the faithful that with regard to his writings, we do not refer only to the printed works, which have already been collected, but also to manuscripts, diaries, letters and any other private writing of the servant of God,” says the document.
It adds: “Those who wish to keep the original, may present a duly certified copy.”
