JOHN PAUL'S BEATIFICATION LATEST BY NEXT YEAR, ROME MAYOR

JOHN PAUL'S BEATIFICATION LATEST BY NEXT YEAR, ROME MAYOR

(ANSA) - Krakow, October 27 - The beatification of late pope John Paul II is expected to take place at latest by next year, Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno said on Tuesday, during a visit to the pontiff's native Poland.

''These are internal decisions (by the Catholic Church) but it is expected to take place latest by next year,'' Alemanno said after talks with the archbishop of Krakow, Monsignor Stanislaw Dziwisz, who served as John Paul's private secretary during his pontificate.

Alemanno said he and Dziwisz had agreed that Rome and Krakow would both hold massive celebrations for the beatification ceremony.

''I expect that we'll see the immense crowd of faithful who arrived for the major events of his pontificate and for his funeral,'' said Alemanno.

The beatification process took a key step forward this summer when theologians tasked with vetting documentation and testimony relating to the Polish pope's sanctity approved the material.

Vatican sources say the beatification could occur in April 2010, on the fifth anniversary of the pope's death.

Candidates for beatification - the step that precedes canonization - must overcome a complicated and lengthy vetting process before beatification, the preliminary stage before sainthood.

In the case of pontiffs the procedure is usually much longer because the Vatican must examine much more material given the mass of responsibility and decisions taken by popes.

However, pope Benedict XVI has put John Paul II's beatification cause on a fast track, waiving a rule requiring a five-year wait before the start of the process.

New reports of miracles attributed to John Paul II's heavenly intervention are said to arrive in Rome every week.