VATICAN CITY — Even before his passing, he was referred to as John Paul the Great.

Now, after one of the greatest and longest pontificates in history, the rush is on to beatify and possibly canonize the Polish Pope who radiated Christ’s love.

The resounding call came after Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, proudly pronounced Karol Wojtyla “John Paul the Great” at a requiem Mass held the day after the Pope died.

Thousands followed his lead, chanting for Pope John Paul II’s canonization at his funeral, holding high banners proclaiming “Santo subito!” (Saint now!) and “Johannis Paulus Magnus!” (John Paul the Great!)

Even cardinals who had gathered for the general congregations at the Vatican to debate the coming conclave, spent most of their first meetings discussing the possibility of opening John Paul II’s cause in record time.

Also, in the weeks following his April 2 death, reports of miracles attributed to John Paul II’s intercession began to deluge the Vatican. Homilies given during the novendiali, or nine days of mourning, regularly expressed their own confidence in the outstanding sanctity of John Paul II.

One included Cardinal Francesco Marchisano, the archpriest of the Vatican basilica, who revealed that while suffering from a throat ailment and unable to speak, John Paul II prayed over him, touched his throat and reassured him that his power of speech would return. Shortly afterwards, it did.

Italian press later showed remarkable pictures of John Paul II looking with loving compassion upon a 4-year-old Mexican boy, Heron Badillo, visibly suffering from the terminal stages of leukemia in 1990. Next to it was a photograph of Badillo as he is today, 19 years old and cured.

“No one doubts that John Paul is, as Cardinal Ratzinger said [at his funeral], in the “house of the Father,” papal biographer George Weigel said. But the final decision on John Paul II’s cause is up to the next pope.

Vatican spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, affirmed that it is within the “exclusive competence” of the next pope to pronounce John Paul a blessed or a saint, and cardinals cannot dictate his choice.

However, many voices are calling for the next pope to exercise caution and patience, arguing that public acclamations and designations of sanctity and greatness are insufficient criteria for formal Church recognition of heroic virtue and holiness.

“We must wait and we must look to the faith of the Church and the people,” said philosopher Stanislaw Grygiel, a close friend of the late Holy Father.

John Paul’s Rules

To hurry up the process would mean to contravene rules reformed and promulgated by Pope John Paul II himself.

Going against them would be a “complete reversal of what he [John Paul II] would have wanted,” said Jesuit Father Peter Gumpel who for 10 years was a theological consultant to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Father Gumpel, known for his defense of Pope Pius XII, cited the 1983 apostolic constitution Divinus Perfectionis Magister.

“I discussed this several times with the Pope and I know that he would have been the first to be opposed to any hasty and premature declaration on the sanctity of a person unless all the requirements of the law laid down by him were substantially followed,” he said.

The first step in the process, after a five-year wait, is to examine the candidate and to find evidence of heroic virtue based on calm consideration rather than passing emotion. There is then an examination by theologians of his written works and public speeches to ensure they are in line with Catholic doctrine.

Once these hurdles have been overcome, a miracle must be approved with testimony from both theologians and scientists witnessing to it. This will then lead to John Paul II’s beatification and, pending the finding of another miracle, canonization.

The next pope, however, will be able to dispense with the five-year wait, as John Paul II did in the beatification of Mother Teresa — the only other time this has happened.

What about the title “the great”?

Father Gumpel said the Church has never formally named any Pope “great.”

“There is no procedure,” he explained, and pointed out that the only two previous Popes to have that title — St. Leo (I) the Great (440-461) and St. Gregory (I) the Great (590-604) — were so designated through a tradition that developed over a millennium.

“The issue is this,” said Father Gumpel, “If a few days or a few weeks after the death of a pope some people suddenly start giving him this title, well then that’s up to them. But what they must understand is that this is not something that can be decided in a few days time, nor should it be done by a kind of pressure group”.

Even so, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, the former prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, told the Italian magazine Famiglia Cristiana, “We hope with all our hearts” that the new pope will, after wise evaluation, “dispense with the rules.”

Edward Pentin writes

 from Rome.