Pope John Paul on the Fast Track to Sainthood

Less than a year ago, the memory of Pope John Paul II, thought to be one of the most beloved pontiffs in history, was tarnished by some of the allegations in a Catholic sex abuse scandal that swept Europe and shook the Vatican to its very foundation.

But today Pope Benedict XVI placed John Paul on the fast track to sainthood, greenlighting a miracle attributed to the late pontiff and setting May 1 as the date for his beatification. The news thrilled the faithful, who have seen the church battered not only by clergy sexual abuse but also by recent attacks on Christians worldwide.

"We are happy that this process came to an end, that what people asked for -- "Santo Subito" -- was fulfilled," John Paul's longtime secretary and friend, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, told reporters in Poland today. "I express great joy on behalf of the entire diocese of Krakow -- and I think I am also authorized to express this on behalf of all of Poland."

An investigation by doctors and theologians appointed by the Vatican determined that a 49-year-old French nun had been cured of her debilitating Parkinson's disease two months after John Paul's death after praying to him for intercession.

Despite some early reports that the nun's illness might not have been Parkinson's and could have gone into spontaneous remission, the panel concluded that she did have Parkinson's and that it was miraculously cured.

At least a million pilgrims are expected to flood Rome for the ceremony, which will break a record held by Mother Teresa since 2003 for the swiftest beatification. John Paul died in 2005 after a 26-year papacy, and Benedict waived the usual five-year waiting period to start the beatification process. Beatification is the final step before sainthood, which will require a second miracle.

"What we're seeing is that a miracle has been authenticated," Baltimore canon lawyer Michael Trueman, co-author of "Surprised by Canon Law," told AOL News today.

"We have seen a supernatural event occur in the life of a real person who has prayed for intercession. It is proof positive that the person prayed to is in heaven, which is also proof that an exemplary person has been rewarded by going to heaven," Trueman said.

Sister Marie Simon-Pierre, who prayed with her fellow sisters at the Congregation of Little Sisters of Catholic Maternity Wards, appeared on the French Catholic TV station KTO and Italy's state-run RAI television today. She showed none of the typical signs of Parkinson's disease, such as slurred speech or trembling hands.

"John Paul II did everything he could for life, to defend life," she said. "He was very close to the smallest and weakest. How many times did we see him approach a handicapped person, a sick person?"

The pontiff, she said, "hasn't left me. He won't leave me until the end of my life."

The nun originally told her order and later the Vatican that she woke up two months after John Paul's death and had been totally cured of the disease that at one point almost crippled her.

But John Paul's beatification is not without controversy. There has been concern over the speed with which it is taking place, since sometimes it takes centuries to achieve beatification and sainthood.

John Paul's longtime support of the Rev. Marcial Maciel Degollado, a Mexican priest who founded the notorious yet powerful Legionaries of Christ, has also clouded his papacy.

Allegations against Degollado were made as far back as the late 1950s. An investigation by The Hartford Courant in 1997 outlined shocking claims by former seminarians that Degollado had sexually abused them, but the allegations were not taken seriously by the church.

Maciel, who was finally reprimanded and asked to retire in 2006, was eventually found to have abused the seminarians and to have fathered several children. Last May, the Vatican took over control of the Legion of Christ.

Juan Vaca, 74, a former superior of the Legion of Christ, has said he was "destroyed" as a result of being molested by Maciel for 10 years, beginning when he was 12.

"I was very upset when I heard the news about John Paul today," Vaca told AOL News. "John Paul is not a saint to me. He was an enabler for Maciel, the most heinous criminal in the Catholic Church. I can't believe that [Benedict] wants to proceed with the beatification of such a man. He's not a model for truth and responsibility in our society."

Pete Vere, a Canadian lawyer and expert on canon law, said that being beatified or anointed as a saint means a person has led a spotless life.

"All the saints made mistakes, except Jesus and Mary," Vere told AOL News. "It means the person tried to live a life of exemplariness. They struggled to come closer to God. Is this process saying Pope John Paul is perfect? No. But he really did struggle, he worked hard to bring people closer to Christ."