John Paul II beatified in Vatican ceremony

The late Pope, John Paul II, has been beatified at a ceremony at the Vatican in front of hundreds of thousands of Catholic faithful.

Among those at St Peter's Square is French nun Marie Simon-Pierre, who says she was cured of Parkinson's Disease.

Her apparently miraculous cure is part of the case for the beatification, the last stage before sainthood.

It comes amid criticism of the Church for the speed of the beatification and the clerical child sex abuse scandal.

Much of the abuse occurred while John Paul II was Pope, from 1979-2005, and the Church has been criticised for not doing enough to punish those found responsible.

Police in Rome estimated that one million people had come to the city for the event, including large numbers of pilgrims from the late Pope's native Poland....