Italian Cardinal Camillio Ruini has told journalists that he was given a signed petition at the conclave that elected Pope Benedict to push for fast-track sainthood for the recently deceased Pope John Paul II.
“The beatification was asked for inside the conclave.”
The scoop arrives from an Italian news agency just days before the solemn ceremony in which Benedict XVI will become the first Pope in 11 centuries to proclaim “blessed” his immediate predecessor.
Cardinal Ruini told AGI news wire how a large group of Cardinals had signed a petition calling on the next pope, still not yet elected, to waive the standing five-year minimum wait for the process of beatification to begin in the case of John Paul.
“Entering the conclave, a letter was given to me signed by many Cardinals who joined in the popular request (heard after John Paul’s death) to begin the process for sainthood right away,” said Ruini, who also served at the time as Vicar of Rome.
“The letter was given to me because the Cardinals didn’t know who would be elected in the conclave.”
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