WHAT IS BEATIFICATION?

Beatification, in which a person is given the title "blessed," precedes canonization as a saint. For a person to be beatified in the Roman Catholic Church, he or she must be proven to have performed a miracle. Intercession by Pope John Paul II after his death is credited with curing a French nun of Parkinson's disease. Proof of a second miracle is needed for sainthood.

Day of veneration: The Vatican declared Oct. 22, the day that John Paul was installed as pope in 1978, as a day for his public veneration.