John Paul II’s Road To Sainthood

Allen Pizzey Looks At The Obstacles Facing The Former Pope

(CBS) 
The best prospect for John Paul II's case seems to be that of a French nun who suffered from Parkinson’s disease and was "cured" of all symptoms after prayers to the late pope. Cynics might be tempted to note several convenient points in the case of the nun: John Paul II also had Parkinson’s, his adoration of the Virgin Mary translated into a penchant for elevating women to sainthood, and the one in question this time is reportedly involved in convincing unwed mothers to keep rather than abort their babies.

There are plenty of other claims, and no doubt at least some of them will fit the criteria that calls for further investigation.

So far, more than 5,000 letters and e-mails have arrived. "I receive letters that say 'Monsignor Oder don’t waste your time he is already saint,'" the postulator said.

A year ago when he started the job, Monsignor Oder worked alone in a small office adjacent to the church of St. John Lateran. But the flood of notes, letters, and petitions for intercession left at the tomb of John Paul II beneath the altar of St. Peter’s Basilica has already all but overwhelmed another, larger office next door. Three staffers sort, catalogue and file them.

Ten hours a day, seven days a week, the pilgrims pass the tomb. Many take pictures, others kneel and pray, almost all cross themselves. Not even the merely curious need the message in five languages that is broadcast in low tones from overhead speakers: "This is a sacred place. Please observe silence and contemplation."

In addition to several, dark-suited Vatican lay employees who occasionally signal people to keep moving, there is a man whose sole job is to accept whatever people hand him, mostly medallions, crucifixes and rosaries, and rub them on the marble top of the sarcophagus. The deeply faithful consider it akin to attaining a relic, a practice reserved for saints.

Monsignor Oder's office also proves relics. Anyone who writes in and asks will be sent a post card with a piece of a cassock worn by John Paul II glued to it.

One of his cassocks, provided by John Paul II's long-serving secretary, Monsignor, now Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwicz, has been cut into 100,000 pieces.

Asked what would happen if 200,000 people asked for a relic, Monsignor Oder replied with a chuckle: "I suppose we’d have to ask Cardinal Dziwicz for another cassock."

It seems a request unlikely to be refused.

Nor is a failure of the process likely. Asked what would happen if at the end of his investigation he had to stand up and say that the evidence just wasn’t there, Monsignor Oder laughed aloud. "I don’t think about this possibility," he said, "because I am already convinced he is a saint."
The twinkly-eyed monsignor will be in good company in St. Peter’s Square today.