That's "Blessed" Pope John Paul II to you, buddy

Looks like a miracle attributed to Pope John Paul II may soon be confirmed by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. CNN's Belief Blog reports that JPII allegedly healed a nun of Parkinson's Disease after the nuns in the order prayed to him after his death in 2005.

It is interesting to note that all of this is taking place so quickly. CNN's post makes the whole canonization process sound like it would be done within the next year. In reality, however, the confirmation of the miracle and the mass for JPII's eventual beatification won't even take place until close to the end of 2011. The first step is for a person to be dead for at least 5 years. JPII just barely makes that cut-off, but I would argue that his charisma, huge following, and universal positive image probably contributed to the nearly "immediate" look into his sainthood. The other steps of being considered, which requires an investigation into the life of the individual and the request of intercessions, were probably also easily overcome in his instance.

If accepted, JPII will become "Blessed", which means that one miracle has been confirmed in his name. If another miracle takes place over the course of the next few years, he will then become Saint JPII. My prediction: it won't take long to attribute another miracle to JPII.