Pilgrims at the Pope's funeral called for his immediate sainthood
"The cause for the beatification of John Paul II is open," the new Roman Catholic leader told priests meeting at Rome's Basilica of St John in Lateran.
The Pope waived the usual rules which require a five-year wait before the Church begins to make someone a saint.
John Paul II died on 2 April, leading to widespread calls from Catholics worldwide for him to be made a saint.
Standing ovation
BEATIFICATION PROCESS Beatification requires that a miracle has occurred Group approaches local bishop After Rome's approval an investigation is launched Findings are sent to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints Case is presented to the Pope Blessed may be accorded a feast day Relics of the candidate may be venerated Canonisation (actual sainthood) requires proof of a second miracle
Reasons for the fast track
"And now I have a very joyous piece of news for you," Pope Benedict XVI said in Italian before making the announcement in Latin.
The Pope read out a letter from Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, the official in charge of sainthood, in which it said that Benedict XVI himself had authorised the start of the beatification process.
The news was met with a standing ovation from the priests attending the meeting.
It comes on the anniversary of an assassination attempt on John Paul II in 1981, when he was shot in St Peter's Square by a Turkish gunman.
Life examined
Information will now be gathered on the former pope's life and teachings, including all private writings from the period before he became pope, and checked for orthodoxy to ensure that he expressed no heretical views.
Pope John Paul II abandoned the five-year rule when he beatified Mother Teresa
A commission of historians will be appointed to gather all of the documents together, which will then be examined by panels of theologians, and cardinals and bishops.
If a two-thirds majority agree with John Paul II's beatification Pope Benedict XVI will then be called upon to give his own approval.
But Vatican expert Michael Walsh told the BBC that for the process to be complete the Vatican authorities will then have to establish that a miracle has been ascribed to Pope John Paul II.
"They have to prove someone has been miraculously healed... by his intercession, by praying to John Paul II, he or she has recovered from cancer or something of that sort," he said.
Miracle needed
In the days following his death Italian media carried a number of reports of alleged miracles attributed to Pope John Paul II, including one claim that an American man suffering from a brain tumour was cured after receiving communion from the late pontiff.
But the alleged miracles occurred during the Pope's lifetime, and the beatification process studies those occurring after the candidate's death.
Beatification allows public veneration of the person and for the person to be known as "Blessed". For actual sainthood, proof of at least two miracles is required.
Beatification allows public veneration of the blessed person
In normal circumstances five years must pass between the death of the person proposed for beatification and the start of the procedure, to avoid emotion playing a part.
However, John Paul II dispensed with this rule himself when in 2003 he beatified Mother Teresa of Calcutta.
The entire process was completed just six years after her death.
On Friday Pope Benedict XVI also announced who would succeed him as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Sixty-eight-year-old William Levada, Archbishop of San Francisco, is the first American to hold the post as the Vatican's chief watchdog of orthodoxy.
'''Background'''



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* beatification
* intercession of saints
* canonization
* beatified people



Today Pope Benedict XVI announced, in a meeting with the Roman clergy at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, that the process for beatification of Pope John Paul II can be started soon. The process of beatification is the first step in the Catholic Church towards the proclamation of santification (canonization) of a person.

Usually there is a five year waiting period after the death of a candidate for beatification before the procedures may begin.  Pope Benedict XVI waived this period on May 9.  The only other case where the waiting period has been waived was Mother Teresa, whose beatification was begun in 1998, a year after her death, and completed in 2003.

John Paul II can not be styled a saint until he has been both formally beatified and canonized, processes that have no timetables and may take several years.

Since the process of beatification should be started in the diocese where the person died, the process should be started by the Cardinal Vicar, Camillo Ruini, who should instruct the process under the competent Court.