Pope loosens up saints' miracle clause

ROME, Vatican City, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- Pope John Paul II is reportedly considering dropping the need for sainthood candidates to have performed posthumous miracles, The Times of London reports.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Archbishop of Genoa, disclosed Sunday Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the pope's ideological "enforcer" for two decades, had presented a formula for the abolition of the centuries-old "miracle clause" to the pope.

The 84-year-old pontiff has created 482 saints in his 26 years as the church's leader, more than all his predecessors put together. He also has beatified 1,337 people, those who have performed one miracle after death.

Abolishing the need for miracles would speed up the canonization of some of the Pope's favorite candidates, including Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who was beatified last year.