ROME - The Roman Catholic Church could recognize the exceptional holiness of John Paul II's life by naming him a saint as early as October, a Church leader said in an interview published Monday.
"The synod of bishops is meeting in Rome in October and it could be an appropriate opportunity to make such a decision," said Archbishop Edward Nowak in an interview with the daily newspaper Corriere della Sera.
Six months are enough to attribute two miracles -- evidence of which must be given if he is to be canonised -- to John Paul II, who died April 2, he added.
Polish-born Nowak, who is secretary of the Vatican office in charge of declaring saints, said the next pope could choose to bypass the usual lengthy procedure.
Although there was a stream of reports of purported miracles carried out by John Paul II during his lifetime, only those occurring after his death would count toward his sainthood.
"But one is enough for the beatification and another for the canonization, and if the 'signs' (of miracles) are as many as we are to understand, it will not be too difficult to have new ones," Nowak was quoted as saying.
Vatican expert Orazio Petrosillo said the Vatican was nonetheless trying put a break to the "excessive enthusiasm" shown toward making John Paul II a saint without following the necessary procedures.
"The Holy See will block this before it becomes a psychosis," wrote Petrosillo in Monday's Messaggero daily.
Under normal circumstances beatification, the first step toward canonization, can only begin five years after a candidate's death, but a pope can decide to speed up the process.
Mother Teresa's canonization process began only a year and a half after her death.
Friday's funeral mass for John Paul II was briefly interrupted when many in the massive crowd of mourners began chanting "santo, santo" repeatedly, while others held up large banners demanding "santo subito" (sainthood now).
04/11/2005 09:22 GMT