Poles commemorate death of Pope John Paul II
Poles planned vigils and concerts today to mark the second anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II.
They also prayed for a speedy sainthood for the revered Pontiff.
Vigils on the exact hour of John Paul's death, 8.37pm, were planned in the southern town of Wadowice, where the Pope was born Karol Wojtyla in 1920. They were to be held also in Krakow, where he served as priest and bishop for almost 40 years, in Warsaw and in other cities.
Special concerts were planned in Warsaw, Krakow and Szczecin, among other cities.
Poles have been urging a quick sainthood for John Paul since his death on April 2, 2005.
Pope Benedict XVI waived the customary five-year waiting period after the candidate's death before a beatification and canonisation processes can begin, and the effort started in 2005.
Monsignor Slawomir Oder, the Polish prelate who is spearheading the beatification cause, said on TVN24 that the church was aware of the great desire for sainthood to be proclaimed, but that he could not give any details as to when it would come.
"The beatification process is not a media question, it is a question of the Holy Spirit," he said.
John Paul's cause has been bolstered by the testimony of a French nun, Sister Marie-Simone-Pierre, who says she was cured of Parkinson's disease after she and her fellow sisters prayed to the late Pope.
"The fact itself is very striking," Oder said. "On one hand it was the same ailment that the Holy Father suffered from … on the other hand the nun was and still remains involved in the service of life and motherhood - themes that had great significance in the teaching of John Paul II."
In a survey published today in the Wprost weekly, 61% of Poles said they would like the beatification process - the step before sainthood - to directly lead to John Paul's sainthood.
Some 30% said the process was going too slowly, but 53% said it was proceeding at the right pace.
