Like His Papacy, John Paul's Beatification Proves Polarizing

The beatification is widely seen as a way not just to honor John Paul but to energize the Roman Catholic Church. Yet, like John Paul’s 26-year papacy itself, it has become intensely polarizing.

For one thing, Benedict waived the traditional five-year wait and began the process weeks after John Paul’s death, and critics across the Catholic spectrum have questioned the alacrity. Others say that the sex abuse crisis that emerged under John Paul is grounds against sainthood. On Saturday, at least one victims’ group plans a worldwide protest.

Defenders, however, say beatification is simply the formal seal of approval for a wildly popular pope who helped bring down Communism and whom many Catholics, especially in his native Poland, already consider a saint. Hundreds of thousands are expected in Rome, the biggest crowds since 2005, when cries of “Santo subito!” or “Sainthood now,” erupted at his funeral Mass.