Pope John Paul II beatified

VATICAN CITY  Alka Jaroslaw, a Polish schoolteacher, was among 1 million people who thronged St. Peter's Square on Sunday to see John Paul II's coffin as the beloved pope was beatified in what could be a step toward sainthood.

Many people wept at the sight in the St. Sebastian Chapel. Jaroslaw, who drove 30 hours with her family to be at the service, fainted.

"It's an important day and a wonderful opportunity to recognize a great man," Jaroslaw, 55, said after a Mass conducted by John Paul's successor, Benedict XVI. The pope gave a blessing in Polish near the end of the Mass.

"It is a joyous occasion for everyone here, because we can feel he is still here with us," Jaroslaw said.

It was the Vatican's largest and most high-profile event since Benedict was installed as pope six years ago.

The crowd in Vatican City and in capitals around the world erupted in cheers, tears and applause as an enormous photo of a young, smiling John Paul was unveiled over the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica and a choir launched into hymn long associated with the Polish-born pope.

"He restored to Christianity its true face as a religion of hope," Benedict said in his homily of a man he said he came to "revere."

Benedict said that through John Paul's faith, courage and strength  "the strength of a titan, a strength which came to him from God"  John Paul had turned back the seemingly "irreversible" tide of Marxism.

"He rightly reclaimed for Christianity that impulse of hope which had in some sense faltered before Marxism and the ideology of progress," Benedict said.

Benedict officially announced John Paul's beatification, a final step before sainthood, and in Latin said that from now on, Pope John Paul shall be called "The Blessed," the official title for beatified figures.

Near the end of the Mass, Benedict was presented with the John Paul's official relic, a silver and marble figure centered on a small glass vial of the deceased pontiff's blood, which was removed during his illness in 2005. The sealed casket will ultimately be moved to a side chapel inside the basilica next to Michelangelo's marble Pieta statue of Mary cradling a crucified Jesus.

The earlier weekend events tied to John Paul's beatification  starting with the removal of John Paul's casket from its tomb beneath St. Peter's on Friday to Saturday's massive candlelight vigil in Rome's Circus Maximus  took place under gray skies and drizzling rain.

The sun came out Sunday for what the Vatican said was one of the largest crowds to ever gather in St. Peter's. The square was filled; onlookers spilled into plazas and filled the wide Via della Conciliazione all the way to the Tiber River, a distance of nearly half a mile.

The crowd was enthusiastic but solemn, holding aloft signs and flags  dominated by the red and white colors of the flag from John Paul's native Poland. Several signs read, "Santo Subito!" (Italian for "Sainthood now!")

"It was a real once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be here for this," said Sandra Thornton, 39, an airline worker from Camden, N.J.

The beatification was the fastest in modern church history, taking place six years and 29 days after John Paul's death  15 days faster than Mother Teresa's, who was beatified in 2003. As John Paul did with Mother Teresa, Benedict waived the five-year waiting period after someone's death before the beatification process can begin.

Beatification requires proof of at least one miracle. For John Paul, a church investigation showed that he inexplicably cured a French nun, Sister Marie Simon-Pierre Normand, of Parkinson's disease. Proof of a second miracle will be needed for John Paul to be named a saint.

Because sainthood is likely within a few years, Vatican watchers said that discussions were already turning to John Paul's legacy.

"The reasons we have beatifications and canonizations is to show it is possible to live a heroic life of virtue and goodness that inspires others," said Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington, D.C. "I think that is what most people saw in John Paul, a man of God who inspired countless people."

Spain's Crown Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia, wearing a black lace mantilla, mingled with Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, former Polish president Lech Walesa and Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who sidestepped a European Union travel ban to attend.

Not all were pleased about the beatification.

"John Paul was a great man, a sincere man, and he was well-loved," said the Rev. Paolo Farinella of Genoa. "This whole beatification is a pure public relations move aimed at revitalizing the church's fortunes at a difficult time," he said, referring to sex scandals involving local priests.

Contributing: The Associated Press