Ingrid D. Rowland contemplates John Paul II's beatification and his use of the process:
It was, after all, John Paul himself who discovered how lucrative the mass encouragement of sainthood can be, both for the city and for the Church. Over his two-and-a-half-decade papacy, he beatified 1,340 people and canonized 483—more than his predecessors had done in four centuries, attracting millions of Catholic pilgrims to the Vatican in the process.
(Photo: Cardinal Stanislav Dziwisz, Archbishop of Krakow and former personal secretary of Pope John Paul II, prays in front of the Tomb of new blessed John Paul II at the St. Peter's Basilica on May 3, 2011 in Vatican City, Vatican. The body of John Paul II was moved to the new resting place, near Michelangelo's 'The Pieta' statue, after a lavish beatification ceremony. By L'Osservatore Romano – Vatican Pool via Getty Images)
The Dish 