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It may be delayed furor over decades of neglected sex abuse investigations...but protest is growing over the speedy path that current Pope Benedict has sent Pope John Paul II on towards sainthood.
Pope John Paul 2 died just six years and one month ago...on April 2, 2005..
Historically, there has been a five-year waiting period after a death...before beatification proceedings even begin.
"My doubts are about John Paul being beatified by his successor, Pope Benedict," said the Catholic historian Michael Walsh. "It appears incestuous and akin to the habit of deifying one's ancestors."
AND: The NYTimes features an opinion column titled "Hold the Halo" by Catholic Maureen Dowd echoing her strong reservations about Pope JP2's quickie beatification.
DOWD: "As progressive as he was on those issues, he was disturbingly regressive on social issues — contraception, women’s ordination, priests’ celibacy, divorce and remarriage. And certainly, John Paul forfeited his right to beatification when he failed to establish a legal standard to remove pedophiles from the priesthood, and simply turned away for many years.
Santo non subito! How can you be a saint if you fail to protect innocent children?"
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/24/opinion/24dowd.html
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I was fortunate enough to literally break bread with Pope John Paul 2...in 1976...while he was still a Cardinal from Poland.
I was then a lowly young speech writer/assistant...nervously filling-in for the governor of Illinois...at a Polish hospital's dedication in Chicago.
He let me eat his fruit salad. We talked about skiing in the Tatras.
I know this will anger some...but it's still difficult for me to envision him...as a saint.
