VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II should be beatified on May 18, what would have been his 85th birthday, as a first step towards sainthood, a Colombian cardinal said here on Wednesday.
"There`s no lack of miracles, he performed many while he was still alive," Roman Catholic Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, the Vatican official in charge of the clergy worldwide, told the television channel Teleradiopadrepio.
In the Roman Catholic Church beatification is the first step on the way to becoming a saint.
The call for the late pope to be declared a saint began during the mourning that followed his April 2 death, and in his interview Castrillon used the same slogan as crowds of Catholics gathered at St Peter`s Square did at the time: "I`m with the people -- immediate sainthood for John Paul II."
The pope`s successor Benedict XVI, who was elected on April 19, is the only person who can decide who is beatified by the Catholic Church, a process which requires proof of miracles.
Two notable `miracle cures` of sick people have already been linked to the deceased pope.
Normal Church rules decree that five years must pass after death before the question of sainthood is tackled, to permit cooler assessment of the subject`s life.
To become a full saint, miracles must also be attributed to someone after their death as a sign that they have interceded with God.
05/11/2005 14:15 GMT