Hearing into Pope John's saintliness

FROM A SPECIAL THE FIRST hearing of CORRESPONDENT
the ecclesiastical court
which is to examine the saintly virtues of the late Pope John took place in Venice last Saturday.
Pope John served as Car dinal Archbishop of Venice from 1953 to 1958.
The court will later hold hearings at Bergamo, Italy; Sofia, Bulgaria; Istanbul. Turkey; and Rome — all places where the late Pope served.
CARDINAL'S EULOGY At a formal opening on Friday, the court invited anyone in possession of writings by the late Pope to make them known to the tribunal in six months. It also heard a eulogy on John by his successor in Venice, Cardinal Urbani.
The initial step in the process of proclaiming Pope John a saint is an ecclesiastical court hearing to examine evidence of his sanctity, charity and other virtues.
Pope Paul announced in 1965, only two years after John's death, that he was beginning proceedings for the beatification of John and the late Pope Pius XII.