Pope John Paul sainthood cause inundated with e-mails, letters

The priest leading the beatification cause for Pope John Paul has been inundated with e-mails and letters - "even from non-believers" - attesting to miracles brought about by the late pontiff.

Today, exactly two months and 26 days after his death, the Rome diocese will formally launch the beatification process for John Paul at St John's Basilica.

Monsignor Slawomir Oder, the "postulator" or advocate for Pope John Paul in the case, will present the evidence he has received in favour of the Pope's reputation for holiness.

"We've been at a level of 80 to 100 (e-mails and letters) a day," Mgr Oder told Reuters yesterday. "It's very, very thrilling."

"They have come from all over the world, even from non-believers," he added.

Beatification requires a miracle after the candidate's death and places virtuous Roman Catholics halfway towards full sainthood.

The miracle must be the result of prayers asking the dead Pope to intercede with God. Another miracle would be necessary between beatification and eventual sainthood.

Mgr Oder said he had needed help from volunteers in his office just to get through the huge number of messages.

"This is the first time I have been a postulator so I can't say if it's a record, but it is surprising," he said.

"I'm very enthusiastic, because I have the chance to see these messages which are testimony to a fervent love for John Paul II."

But nothing about the procedure that could lead to sainthood for Pope John Paul has been particularly routine.

At his funeral on April 8, crowds chanted "Santo Subito!" (Make him a saint now!) and held up banners attesting to Pope John Paul's saintly ways.

The Polish pontiff died on April 2. Under normal rules, the procedure should not start until five years later, but Pope Benedict dispensed with the rules to put his predecessor on the fast track to possible sainthood.

Pope John Paul did the same for Mother Teresa, but even in her case, the process only began two years after her death.

The quick start means Pope John Paul could be beatified within a few years if a miracle can be attributed to his intercession.

In his life, Pope John Paul canonised 482 saints and beatified 1,338 people, more than all his predecessors in the past four centuries combined.