STEPS TO SAINTHOOD Church prays for a miracle for its Polish pope

ASSOCIATED PRESS
EMBERS OF A CLEVELAND parish, where one Sunday Masses is celebrated in Polish, are doing what they can to seek sainthood for their beloved Pope John Paul II, the favorite son of Poland.
"The people of St. Stanislaus are praying for a miracle, and they're expecting one," said Bogdan Pieniak, the church administrator.
The process of being named a saint often takes decades or even centuries. But the cries of santo subito -- "sainthood now" -- that erupted at John Paul's funeral two years ago resonated throughout the church.
The Slavic Village parish, which already has one shrine containing a mitre, the tall headdress, worn by John Paul, recently installed a specially commissioned icon of the late pope and St. Stanislaus in a new 22-foot-high shrine.
It will give parishioners even more opportunities to pray for the intercession of John Paul, who may be one miracle away from canonization.
Waived requirement
Pope Benedict XVI waived the requirement that five years pass before a candidate's cause can be considered. Earlier this month, the Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Vatican City received the case of a French nun, Sister Marie-Simon-Pierre, who says she was cured of Parkinson's disease after she prayed to John Paul.
If the church determines the healing was supernatural, Benedict can beatify John Paul, who would be called "blessed." Verification of a second miracle is required for sainthood.
The beloved pontiff, who visited the Cleveland church in 1969 as then-Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, has always been a favorite at St. Stanislaus Church.
"John Paul II is a hero to the Polish people," Pieniak said. "When he was elected pope, the Poles were delirious with joy."
In November 2005, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow presented St. Stanislaus with an ornate mitre worn by the late pope. The liturgical head covering is encased in a small shrine with a kneeler in front of it.
Adding an icon
The church is adding an icon of St. Stanislaus and John Paul that was commissioned from Polish artist Mado Kucharska to honor the patron saint of the parish and the late pontiff.
The almost 3-foot-by-2-foot icon depicts a peaceful John Paul wearing the mitre that is displayed in the St. Stanislaus shrine. The icon will be installed in an elaborately carved 22-foot-high, 14-foot-wide shrine built of white oak by local craftsmen.
"It's a way of remembering his visit here to in 1969, and it's a way of continuing his presence among us in his sanctity," said the Rev. Michael Surufka, pastor at St. Stanislaus.
Woodworkers Timothy Riffle and Charles Gliha, who have been working nearly all their waking hours the past six weeks to complete the shrine, say they have been helped along by little miracles, including a contractor who donated a week's worth of time to help them with the installation.
"If you're sensitive to spiritual things, you can't help but feel a presence in that church," Riffle said.
Across the street at Cafe Krakow, a gift shop and meeting place run by the church, paintings, T-shirts and books with the late pope's portrait are displayed prominently.
At one table, Grace Hryniewicz takes off her glasses and pauses before describing what John Paul means to her.
"I love him. It's a big, huge love, and I trust him," she said in a combination of Polish and English last week with the help of an interpreter.
Hryniewicz said she prays regularly at the mitre shrine, sometimes to thank God and John Paul for their help in her life, sometimes to ask their advice.
"When I pray to him, he listens to me, and everything I pray," she said of the late pope. Afterward, "I feel better. I'm sure he will help me."
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