Pope John Paul II is on the way to becoming a saint after his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, announced today that he would waive the usual five-year waiting period after a candidate's death.

John Paul died on April 2 and if normal rules had been applied, the procedure leading to his beatification – the half-way stage to sainthood - could not have begun before 2010.

But the new Pope’s decision means that the Pole could be beatified and declared a "blessed of the Church" within a few years if a miracle can be attributed to his intercession with God.

The Pope told a meeting of priests in Rome that he had "a very joyous piece of news" for them.

The announcement was met with sustained applause and Benedict joked that it was clear that the priests had all understood Latin and did not repeat his announcement in Italian.

The crowds at John Paul’s funeral on April 8, including tens of thousands of pilgrims from his native Poland, chanted "Santo Subito" - Make him a saint now!

Many of those who knew or worked with John Paul are still alive, which could speed up the case significantly as witnesses will be available to testify.

Vatican experts say that, even with the waiting period lifted, a lengthy investigation into John Paul’s life and confirmation of a miracle attributed to him would be required before he could be beatified.

Vatican procedures in place for some 500 years require one miracle for someone to be beatified and a second for their canonisation.

Following the late pope’s death, Italian newspapers carried numerous reports of miracles attributed to John Paul.

But the reports stemmed from inexplicable cures that occurred while John Paul was still alive, while according to Vatican rules a miracle has to have occurred after John Paul’s death for it to be considered in the saint-making process.

The five-year rule is meant to allow emotions to settle down after a person dies and for documentation and witnesses supporting the sainthood cause to be prepared.

But John Paul, who broke many procedural rules and created more saints than all his predecessors combined, set a precedent by breaking that one too. In 1999, he allowed Mother Teresa’s sainthood cause to start just two years after her death.

Benedict’s announcement comes on the anniversary of an 1981 assassination attempt against John Paul in St. Peter’s Square at the hands of a Turkish gunman.

The Vatican also announced today that US Cardinal William Joseph Levada, 69, from San Francisco would take over in the powerful role as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith. It was the position that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger held for 24 years before his election as Pope last month.

In 2000, Archbishop Levada claimed that gay militants would pose as priests and bishops and seek to ridicule the Church during an international gay pride rally.

"I can't believe it's possible that this should happen in Rome," he said during a visit to the Pope. "I am amazed that the Government has not prevented it. Evidently the Italian authorities have no idea of what will happen. Demonstrations of this kind are uncontrollable."

The Archbishop of Westminster welcomed the decision to fast-track John Paul to sainthood.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor said: "It is exceptional to start the process of beatification so soon, but John Paul II was an exceptional man and Pope Benedict has responded to the heartfelt wish of millions of us who hope to see formal recognition of what we know already in our hearts to be true.

"Pope John Paul was truly a holy man and Catholics wish this lengthy process to begin so that they can reflect on the significance of his life and faithful ministry in the service of God and his people."

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