Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII to become saints
This picture taken on September 19, 1999, in Maribor shows Pope John Paul II celebrating a mass of beatification of Anton Martin Slomsek. Pope John Paul II will be beatified on May 1, 2011.
The Vatican announced today that Pope John Paul II, who died in 2005, and Pope John XXIII, who died in 1963, will be canonized as saints.
Polish-born John Paul II, who served as pope between 1978 and 2005, was fast-tracked to beatification, becoming “the blessed” John Paul II just six years after his death, CNN reported.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI approved John Paul's first miracle — reportedly curing a French nun of Parkinson's disease — in 2010.
Today, Pope Francis confirmed a second miracle attributed to John Paul II – curing a Costa Rican woman of a cerebral aneurism on the day of his beatification.
More from GlobalPost: Vatican attributes second miracle to Pope John Paul II, clearing the way for sainthood
Pope John XXIII served as pope from 1958 to 1963. He convened the Vatican II council in 1962, which modernized many Roman Catholic Church traditions.
John XXIII has only had one miracle confirmed by the Vatican, but Pope Francis decided to canonize him on his own merit, the Associated Press reported.
The canonization ceremonies will likely occur before the end of the year.
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