THE VATICAN -- The Vatican has announced that the late Pope John Paul II will become a saint.
According to a report from Vatican Radio, the decree signed by Pope Francis on Friday morning also approves sainthood for Pope John XXIII even though he has only been credited with one miracle, not two.
It was just Tuesday when the Vatican announced that a panel of cardinals and bishops had cleared the way for John Paul II, a native of Poland, to become a saint.
John Paul II was pope from 1978 until his death in 2005. Calls for the Catholic Church to make him a saint began immediately, and he was beatified in 2011.
John XXIII served as pope from 1958 to 1963. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2000.
Vatican officials said the formal canonizations of Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII could happen before the end of the year.
