Pope John Paul II to be beatified May 1

VATICAN CITY -- During his 2005 funeral Mass, crowds at the Vatican shouted for Pope John Paul II to be made a saint immediately, chanting "Santo Subito!" for one of the most important and beloved popes in history.
His successor heard their call and on Friday, in the fastest process on record, set May 1 as the date for John Paul's beatification - a key step toward Catholicism's highest honor and a major morale boost for a church reeling from the clerical sex abuse scandal.
Pope Benedict XVI set the date after declaring that a French nun's recovery from Parkinson's disease was the miracle needed for John Paul to be beatified. A second miracle is needed for the Polish-born John Paul to be made a saint.
The May 1 ceremony - which Benedict himself will celebrate - is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to Rome for a precedent-setting Mass: never before has a pope beatified his immediate predecessor.
Though the numbers aren't expected to necessarily reach the 3 million who flocked here for John Paul's funeral, religious tour operators in his native Poland were already making preparations to bus and fly in the faithful to celebrate a man many considered a saint while alive.
"We have waited a long time and this is a great day for us," said Mayor Ewa Filipiak of John Paul's hometown of Wadowice, Poland, where the faithful lit candles Friday and prayed at a chapel in the town church dedicated to John Paul.
Father Pawel Danek, who runs a museum in John Paul's family home, said Benedict had listened to the prayers of the faithful.
"The Holy Father has confirmed what we all felt somehow," he said. "For us, John Paul II's holiness is obvious."
Benedict put John Paul on the fast track to possible sainthood just weeks after he died, waiving the typical five-year waiting period before the process could begin. But he insisted that the investigation into John Paul's life be thorough to avoid any doubts about his virtues.
The beatification will nevertheless be the fastest on record, coming just over six years after his death and beating out Mother Teresa's then-record beatification in 2003 by a few days