Two Miracles for Late John Paul II Reported
HOLMES: You're going to love this video that came out of the Vatican today. Check this out.</s>MALVEAUX: Here's Pope Francis taking a ride on his Pope-mobile with a teenage boy who has Down's syndrome. That's pretty cool. The pope saw him admiring the Pope-mobile and he asked him if he want today go for a ride, so you might notice the boy wearing an Argentina soccer shirt. Well, that explains the lucky break.</s>HOLMES: It could, couldn't it? I hadn't noticed that one. The pope after all is from Argentina. That will do it for you. Now you know when you go to the Vatican ...</s>MALVEAUX: Yeah. Sport the shirt there. The Vatican says a miracle has taken place that's going to amaze the world.</s>HOLMES: They say it's a miracle the late-pope John Paul II needs to actually be on the books for him to officially become a saint. All right, let's go to John Allen, our senior Vatican analyst joining us. Tell us about the miracle and how big a deal it is.</s>JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: Hi there, Michael and Suzanne. Well, it's a very big deal because, as you say, it clears the way for John Paul II to be formally declared a saint by the Catholic Church. Now the Vatican hasn't officially revealed any details because they don't, typically. They wait for the process to be completed. But what we know on background is that it apparently involves the healing of a woman in Costa Rica who was suffering from a severe brain injury who prayed to the late-pope for assistance and the reports are that on the evening of May 1st, 2011, which was the day that John Paul was beatified which was the final step before sainthood, she reportedly was heeled. Vatican officials, Michael and Suzanne, are actually calling this a double miracle because not only did she apparently recover from this brain injury, but members of her family who have lost their faith have also returned to the church. So they're claiming it's sort of a double play for the late pope.</s>MALVEAUX: And, John, explain how this works. I mean, you know, just for folks out there who might not understand, how do these miracles actually verified or made public or made official in some way?</s>ALLEN: Well, the theology of sainthood is that a saint is somebody who lives such a holy life that they are already in heaven with God. Now, the question, of course, is how in the world do you know that? And the answer that the church has traditionally given is that, if somebody is able to engineer a miracle, that's proof that they are close to God and able to intercede to help somebody out who is still on Earth. In John Paul's case the miracle for his beatification and, of course, there's one miracle required to be beatified and another for canonization. The miracle for beatification in 2011 was the healing of a French nun from Parkinson's disease, of course, the same ailment from which John Paul himself suffered. And in this case, it's the woman from Costa Rica. These miracle reports are reviewed by a team of doctors to make sure that they're inexplicable, medically and scientifically, then by a team of theologians to make sure they pass spiritual muster. Then there's a body of cardinals that has to sign-off and finally the pope himself. Once that's done the Vatican is saying this canonization could occur as early as next October, which, Michael and Suzanne, would be an all- time land speed record. Normally, you know, the Vatican thinks in centuries. In this case it could happen as quickly as eight years.</s>HOLMES: You took our next question and answered it. Yeah, because this has been a pretty speedy path to sainthood. John, always great to have you on the program. John Allen there.</s>MALVEAUX: And still ahead, a rare punishment in Qatar, a member of the royal family now going to prison after he's held partly responsible for a fire that killed 13 toddlers.