Pope John Paul II, John XXIII To Receive Sainthood, Says Vatican

Eight years after his death, in which chanters surrounded his funeral demanding sainthood, the longest-serving Pope John Paul II will be declared a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. The Vatican said Friday that also joining the ranks would be John XXIII, though it gave no official date for the ceremony. John Paul II was beatified in 2011, only six years after his death in the fastest beatification process in centuries, CNN reported.

This is a landmark incident as Pope Francis declared John Paul to receieve sainthood before the Vatican could confirm his second miracle, the Associated Press reported. Francis is part of the Second Vatican Council, a series of meeting that modernized the Catholic Church. He was made a cardinal by John Paul. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI approved John Paul's first miracle in 2010. It is said that he cured a French nun of Parkinson's disease. His second miracle, which is unconfirmed, is said to be posthumous -- a woman is believed to be healed when she prayed to him on the day of his beatification, the New York Times reported.

Alberto Melloni, a Vatican historian and director of the John XXIII Foundation for Religious Studies, said the canonization of these two pope's is a milestone for the Catholic Church. It shows that it is stepping into the modern age and lessens the doubts cast on the Second Vatican Council.

"Many spoke about the council, criticized it as too weak and with too many compromises, but failed to feel the spirit of the council," Melloni said. "Both popes were bishops at the council, not theologians."

Pope John Paul II served from 1978 until his death in 2005. Thousands of people turned up for the funeral, and a half a million for his beatification. Pope Benedict applauded John Paul as a hero and leader of the church, though Benedict spent much of his papacy trying to combat what the Second Vatican Council worked to achieve. Benedict's first encyclical, "God Is Love," was inspired by the works of John Paul. His new work released Friday "Lumen Fidei," was written conjointly with the late pope.

"He was witness to the tragic age of big ideologies, totalitarian regimes, and from their passing John Paul II embraced the harsh suffering, marked by tension and contradictions, of the transition of the modern age toward a new phase of history, showing constant concern that the human person be its protagonist," Benedict said at John Paul's beatification.

The news of the Polish-born pope reaching sainthood caused much joy among religious leaders in the country. Rev. Kazimierz Sowa, the head of Religion TV channel, predicated that Poles would gather en masse for the canonization ceremony. He said he hoped for a fall ceremony to accommodate Polish citizens for the event, adding that John Paul was an inspiration to the people.

"John Paul II was extremely popular during his lifetime and he still continues to inspire people," Sowa said.