Popes John Paul II, John XXIII cleared for sainthood

Pope John Paul II

Pope John XXIII

Pope Francis has cleared Pope John Paul II for sainthood today according to The Vatican, announcing that a second miracle attributed to the intercession of the Polish Pontiff, who led the Roman Catholic Church from 1978 to 2005, was approved setting up a remarkable dual canonization along with another beloved pope, John XXIII.

The Vatican said Pope John XXIII, who reigned from 1958 to 1963 and called the Second Vatican Council - which enacted sweeping reforms to modernize the Church - would also be made a saint.

Two confirmed miracles are usually required under Vatican rules for the declaration of a saint.

John Paul had already been credited with asking God to cure French, nun Marie Simon-Pierre Normand, of Parkinson's disease, which helped lead to his beatification in 2011, when he was declared a "blessed" of the Church.

The second miracle attributed to John Paul's intercession is the inexplicable curing of a woman from Costa Rica who prayed to him for help with her medical condition on the day of his beatification.

The Spanish Catholic newspaper, La Razon, has identified her as Floribeth Mora, and said she suffered from a cerebral aneurism that was inexplicably cured on May 1, 2011 — the day of John Paul’s beatification, when 1.5 million people filled St. Peter’s Square to honor the beloved Polish pontiff.

In a series of reports late last month, La Razon reported that Mora awoke with debilitating head pain on April 8 and went to the hospital, where her condition worsened to the point that she was sent home with only a month to live.

Her family prayed to John Paul, and the aneurism disappeared.

La Razon quoted her doctor, Dr. Alejandro Vargas, who said: “It surprised me a lot that the aneurism disappeared, I can’t explain it based on science”.

In the case of Pope John XXIII, who was known as the "good pope", Francis waved the customary rules which require a second miracle after beatification. Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said Francis had the power to "dispense" with the normal saint-making procedures to canonize him on his own merit, without a miracle. John XXIII was beatified in 2000.

No dates for the canonization ceremonies were immediately given but the Vatican said they were expected by the end of the year. The date of December 8th has been floated as a possible date for the canonization, as it falls on the feast of the Immaculate Conception.