The campaign to make Pope John Paul II a saint reached a landmark stage today as its promoters offered proof of a purported miracle and a cardinal suggested the beatification process should be speeded up.

At a ceremony which included prayers, oaths and sacred rituals to mark the second anniversary of John Paul's death, officials formally concluded the first phase of an investigation. The Rome diocese presented the Vatican with thousands of pages of documents and transcripts proposing that he should be beatified, the last step before sainthood.

Two years is a remarkably short time for the completion of the first phase of a sainthood cause, which can take decades or, in some cases, hundreds of years.

The evidence gathered and handed over at the ceremony at Rome’s Basilica of St John includes testimony from some 130 people as well as scrutiny of Pope John Paul’s life, spoken words and writings. Three black leather trunks containing the documents were sealed with ribbon and hot, red wax as Church officials and thousands of faithful applauded.

Their contents include documentation on the case of a French nun who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease - the same condition that the late Pope had – until, she said, it inexplicably disappeared two months after his death.

Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, 46, gave a news conference in France on Friday, at which she spoke of the late Polish Pontiff as an inspiration because of his very public suffering from Parkinson’s. “My healing was the work of God through the intercession of John Paul,” she said.

The nun, who was present at the ceremony today, could be central to the case since the Church demands proof of a medically unexplained healing before a candidate can be beatified.

Many Catholics are convinced of John Paul’s sanctity. Crowds at his funeral in April 2005 chanted “Santo Subito” ("Make him a saint now") and their demand was reinforced by the late Pope’s former secretary, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who held a mass held just after dawn today at the Pope’s crypt in St Peter’s Basilica.

“The faith of the people of God clearly recognises his sanctity,” said Cardinal Dziwisz, who in the past has suggested that Pope Benedict should skip the beatification stage for his predecessor and move directly to sainthood.

In May, 2005, Pope Benedict put John Paul on the fast track by dispensing with Church rules that normally impose a five-year waiting period after a candidate’s death before the procedure that leads to sainthood can even start.

Later today Pope Benedict will say a Mass in the Vatican commemorating John Paul and may hint at whether he is considering other dispensations.

The documentation prepared by the Rome and Krakow dioceses (where the Pope was formerly archbishop) will be opened and reviewed by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints. If the Vatican rules that the cure of Simon-Pierre was a miracle, evidence of another would be required before sainthood is bestowed.

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