Pope John Paul II close to sainthood, Vatican source says

ROME (CNN) — The Catholic Church is on the verge of declaring late Pope John Paul II a saint, a Vatican source familiar with the process told CNN on Tuesday.

The committee that considers candidates for sainthood voted Tuesday to credit the late pope with a second miracle, the source said, asking not to be named discussing internal Vatican deliberations.

It is not clear which of several miracles under consideration would be credited to the late pope. Pope Francis must now sign off on the decision before it is official.

John Paul was pope from 1978 until his death in 2005.

He was fast-tracked to beatification when he died in 2005, and became “the blessed” John Paul II barely six years after his death — the fastest beatification in centuries.

For beatification, a person must be credited with a miracle by the Catholic Church.

Pope Benedict, now pope emeritus, ruled in 2010 that John Paul II had miraculously cured a French nun of Parkinson’s disease.

Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre, a nun whose order prayed to the pope after he died, said she was cured of the disease, an ailment that also afflicted John Paul II.

A second miracle would have to be confirmed for him to be officially canonized, or elevated as a saint of the Catholic Church.