Pope John Paul II's closest aide said in an interview that he hoped the late pontiff would be made a saint next month during World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany.
"Everything is possible, but I don't know if it would be opportune," Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz said on Saturday. Nevertheless, the Cologne setting would be perfect, he said, because "no one loved young people like the pope, and they loved him."
"It would be wonderful for a German pope to canonize a Polish pope in Cologne," he said.
Dziwisz also said Pope Benedict XVI will visit Poland next spring.
"He has promised it," he said.
So far, Benedict has only one confirmed foreign trip on his calendar, the Aug. 18 to Aug. 21 visit to Cologne.
Speculation has been swirling about whether he might beatify John Paul during the World Youth Day celebrations -- placing the late pope on an even faster track to possible sainthood. Already, Benedict waived the traditional five-year waiting period and allowed the beatification process to officially begin just three months after John Paul died on April 2.
Dziwisz, John Paul's trusted private secretary, specified that he wanted John Paul canonized -- not just beatified -- during the Cologne visit.
Asked if Benedict might declare John Paul a martyr -- which would spare the Vatican from having to find and confirm a miracle attributed to John Paul -- Dziwisz responded: "In any case, people want him to be a saint."
What is important, he said is a candidate's "moral rectitude."
"There's no question about that," he said.
Dziwisz, who has recently been named archbishop of Krakow by Benedict, also confirmed that he disregarded the late pope's instructions in his will to burn all his personal papers.
Dziwisz said the material was "too important historically," to destroy and that he intended to make it public bit by bit. He has previously indicated the papers may be useful in the sainthood process.
The 66-year-old Dziwisz, dressed in a simple black cassock with bishop's cross, answered questions in the palm-shaded garden of the John Paul II Residence for Polish pilgrims on the northern outskirts of Rome. He served John Paul for 39 years, becoming one of the most powerful men in the Vatican where he was known simply as "Don Stanislaw."
As archbishop of Krakow, John Paul's previous post, he is line to become a cardinal. He takes up the post on Aug. 27.
He spoke of John Paul in affectionate terms, describing him frequently as a man with a "rich personality" and speaking of his "very deep" relationship with Jews, including private dinners with Jewish families visiting Rome.
John Paul was the first pope to visit a synagogue, making a 1986 visit to Rome's central synagogue. Benedict will follow by visiting the synagogue in Cologne that was destroyed by the Nazis during his trip for World Youth Day.
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