Pope John Paul to be beatified
John Paul II The late Pope John Paul II was moved a major step closer to sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church on Friday when his successor approved a decree attributing a miracle to him. The move by Pope Benedict means that John Paul, who died in 2005 after a papacy of nearly 27 years, will be beatified. Beatification is the last step before sainthood. The ceremony will take place on May 1 in Rome. Sr. Marie Simon-Pierre Church officials have said the miracle attributed to the intercession of Pope John Paul with God concerned Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, a 48-year-old French nun diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, from which Pope John Paul himself suffered. She said her illness inexplicably disappeared two months after his death after she and her fellow nuns prayed to him. Church appointed doctors agreed that there was no medical explanation for the curing of the nun. Another miracle occurring after the date of the beatification ceremony — which will confer th...