The editor of the Vatican newspaper said Thursday that Pope John Paul II was a "martyr" even though he survived a 1981 assassination attempt - the latest official comment suggesting a speedy path to sainthood for the late pontiff.
Mario Agnes, editor-in-chief of the official Vatican daily L'Osservatore Romano, told an annual pro-Catholic political meeting that the stones in St. Peter's Square where John Paul's blood was shed should be preserved because it was the blood of "an authentic martyred pope."
Ever since Pope Benedict XVI announced May 13 that he was putting John Paul on the fast track for possible sainthood, questions have arisen about whether he could be declared a martyr. Doing so would remove the need for the Vatican to confirm that a miracle attributed to his intercession had occurred after his April 2 death for him to be beatified. The Vatican would still need to confirm a miracle occurred after his beatification for John Paul to be declared a saint.
Church officials had initially rejected outright any suggestion that the 1981 assassination attempt could be the basis for a martyrdom declaration since John Paul lived for 24 years after it.
The Associated Press
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