VATICAN CITY, March 3 (UPI) -- A man considered to be the founding father of the European Union is on the road to being named a saint by the Vatican, The Times of London said Wednesday.
Robert Schuman of France, who died in 1963, worked in 1950 as French foreign minister when he issued the Schuman Plan on Franco-German reconciliation and the principles of a "United States of Europe," which led in 1952 to the six-nation European Coal and Steel Community, the forerunner of the EEC and ultimately the European Union.
Pope John Paul II reportedly considers Schuman an extraordinarily competent statesman who served the people of Europe, an authentic Roman Catholic and an example to all those responsible for the construction of Europe.
Canonization would normally take 10 years unless, like Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Schuman is put on a "fast track" to sainthood by the pope, who has streamlined canonization procedures.
