On Saturday in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI approved a decree declaring that Pope John Paul II lived a life of heroic virtue and according him the title ‘Venerable’.  The Holy Father must yet approve of a miracle attributed to the late pope’s intercession before he can be beatified, the next step on the path to sainthood.

The Holy Father also approved a decree on the heroic virtues of Pope Pius XII, the wartime pope who has been the target of a campaign of defamation led by liberal Jews and revisionist historians.