Pope beatifies John Paul II

Pope Benedict XVI beatified Pope John Paul II before 1.5 million faithful in St. Peter’s Square and surrounding streets Sunday, May 1, 2011.

Section:Gallery

Sun., May 1, 2011

Bishops use newspapers to shelter from the sun as they attend the beatification ceremony for late Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, May 1, 2011. More than a million faithful are estimated to have attended the celebration at the Vatican and surrounding streets..

Anja Niedringhaus
A man watches the beatification of the late Pope John Paul II on one of two large screens projected in the Virgin of Guadalupe Basilica while waiting in Mexico City, Sunday May 1, 2011. Catholics worldwide celebrated the beatification of Polish-born Karol Wojtyla on Sunday, with the faithful jamming churches to pray and witnessing on TV screens the Vatican ceremony that brought him one step closer to possible sainthood.

Marco Ugarte Associated Press
Faithful gathered at the Virgin of Guadalupe Basilica to wait for the beatification ceremony of the late Pope John Paul II to be projected on two large screens in Mexico City, Sunday May 1, 2011. Catholics worldwide celebrated the beatification of Polish-born Karol Wojtyla on Sunday, with the faithful jamming churches to pray and witnessing on TV screens the Vatican ceremony that brought him one step closer to possible sainthood.

Marco Ugarte Associated Press
Cardinals kissf the casket of late Pope John Paul II, laid out in state at the Altar of the Confession inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the end of a solemn celebration in St. Peter's Square where he was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI, Sunday, May 1, 2011, in the fastest beatification in modern times. More than a million faithful have attended the celebration at the Vatican and surrounding streets.

Andrew Medichini Ap Pool
A tapestry of late John Paul II is displayed on the facade of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Sunday, May 1, 2011. Pope Benedict XVI beatified Pope John Paul II before more than a million faithful in St. Peter's Square and surrounding streets Sunday, moving the beloved former pontiff one step closer to possible sainthood.

Anja Niedringhaus Associated Press
In this photo released by Italian Police faithful crowd St. Peter's Square and the surrounding area at the Vatican, Sunday, May 1, 2011. Pope Benedict XVI beatified Pope John Paul II before 1.5 million faithful in St. Peter's Square and surrounding streets Sunday, moving the beloved former pontiff one step closer to possible sainthood in one of the largest turnouts ever for a Vatican Mass.

Massimo Sestini Italian Police
In this photo released by Italian Police faithful crowd St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, May 1, 2011. Pope Benedict XVI beatified Pope John Paul II before 1.5 million faithful in St. Peter's Square and surrounding streets Sunday, moving the beloved former pontiff one step closer to possible sainthood in one of the largest turnouts ever for a Vatican Mass.

Massimo Sestini Italian Police
Pope Benedict XVI, center, kneels in prayer in front of the casket of late Pope John Paul II, laid out in state at the Altar of the Confession inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the end of a solemn celebration in St. Peter's Square where he was beatified, Sunday, May 1, 2011, in the fastest beatification in modern times. More than a million faithful have attended the celebration at the Vatican and surrounding streets.

Ettore Ferrari Ansa Pool
The tapestry of John Paul II is hangs from the facade of St. Peter's basilica at the Vatican, Sunday, May 1, 2011. Pope Benedict XVI beatified Pope John Paul II before more than a million faithful in St. Peter's Square and surrounding streets Sunday, moving the beloved former pontiff one step closer to possible sainthood.

Pier Cito Associated Press
Pope Benedict XVI drives through the crowd as a faithful holds up a picture of late John Paul II, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, May 1, 2011. Pope Benedict XVI beatified Pope John Paul II before more than a million faithful in St. Peter's Square and surrounding streets Sunday, moving the beloved former pontiff one step closer to possible sainthood.

Pier Cito Associated Press
Two nuns kiss the casket of John Paul II inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican Sunday, May 1, 2011. Pope Benedict XVI beatified Pope John Paul II before more than a million faithful in St. Peter's Square and surrounding streets Sunday, moving the beloved former pontiff one step closer to possible sainthood.

Pier Cito Associated Press
Pope Benedict XVI follows a line of prelates as he waves from his popemobile upon his arrival in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, May 1, 2011. Pope Benedict XVI beatified Pope John Paul II before more than a million faithful in St. Peter's Square and surrounding streets Sunday, moving the beloved former pontiff one step closer to possible sainthood.

Gregorio Borgia Associated Press
Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, personal secretary of late Pope John Paul II, second from top, leaves after praying with other Cardinals in front of the casket of John Paul II, laid out in state at the Altar of the Confession inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the end of a solemn celebration in St. Peter's Square where he was beatified, Sunday, May 1, 2011, in the fastest beatification in modern times. More than a million faithful have attended the celebration at the Vatican and surrounding streets.

Ettore Ferrari Ansa Pool
Pope Benedict XVI, center, kneels in prayer in front of the casket of late Pope John Paul II, laid out in state at the Altar of the Confession inside St. Peter's Basilica, at the end of a solemn celebration in St. Peter's Square where he was beatified, Sunday, May 1, 2011, in the fastest beatification in modern times. More than a million faithful are estimated to have attended the celebration at the Vatican and surrounding streets.

Ettore Ferrari Ansa Pool
Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, right, and sister Tobiana give Pope Benedict XVI the glass reliquary containing the blood of late Pope John Paul II, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, May 1, 2011. The Vatican has decreed that Sister Marie Simon-Pierre's inexplicable healing was the miracle needed to beatify John Paul, a process that will reach its culmination Sunday during a Mass in St. Peter's Square celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI.

Anja Niedringhaus Associated Press
In this photo provided by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Benedict XVI kisses the glass reliquary containing the blood of late Pope John Paul II during his beatification ceremony, in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, May 1, 2011. Pope Benedict XVI beatified Pope John Paul II before more than a million faithful in St. Peter's Square and surrounding streets Sunday, moving the beloved former pontiff one step closer to possible sainthood.