Santo Subito!

On the 24th anniversary of the attempt on his life in St. Peter's Square, John Paul II (already called by many, "Pope John Paul the Great"), has been given an official dispensation by Pope Benedict XVI for the 5-year period before the beatification process begins.

I've read many accounts in the newswires calling this "the fast track" to sainthood, and in a sense it is.

But in effect, when amazing Catholics have died, and there rises a populist movement to have them beatified and canonised faster than most, as what happened to St. Thérèse of Lisieux (who by the way, will have a major motion picture on her life story out soon), that completely conforms to Catholic history and culture.

The Little Flower died in 1897. She was beatified in 1914, and canonised in 1925.

The same thing happened to the famous stigmatic, Padre Pio, who died in 1968, and was canonised by the late Pope in 2002.

And I've no doubt Mother Teresa of Calcutta is on her way to sainthood as well.

When news media outlets complain or intimate that this is unfair (as I read on the BBC Forum and heard on CNN), or that it's the current Pope trying to "cloak" himself in his predecessor's popularity, that's the bitterness we all saw when Pope Benedict XVI was elected.

So let me get this straight:

When the people demand the Church listen to their changing needs like birth control, it's important to listen to them, but when all of St. Peter's Square was wall-to-wall "Santo Subito" banners, that's demagoguery?

Please.

Of course, for many of us, myself included it goes without saying, the late John Paul II is already a saint.

The actual ecclesiastical red-tape is just a formality.