Child able to walk again after praying at John Paul's Tomb

The nine-year-old Polish boy was brought to St Peter's Basilica on a pilgrimage to the grave of the Polish pope, who died on April 2 2005.

ROME (UK Catholic Herald) - A child crippled by a kidney tumour was able to walk again after praying at the tomb of Pope John Paul II on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the late pontiff's death, it has been claimed.

The nine-year-old Polish boy was brought to St Peter's Basilica on a pilgrimage to the grave of the Polish pope, who died on April 2 2005.

Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the former private secretary of Pope John Paul, said that after praying at the tomb in the crypt of the Rome basilica he "suddenly" started walking again.

"He was brought in a wheelchair because he wasn't able to walk," the cardinal said. "As soon as the boy emerged from the basilica, he told his parents: 'I want to walk.' He got up and started walking, healthy," the prelate told Associated Press news agency.

He said the boy was from Gdansk, the Polish seaport known as the birthplace of the Solidarity movement which helped bring down decades of Communist rule in John Paul's homeland in the Eighties.

If investigations reveal that there are no scientific explanations for the child's recovery, the healing may be put forward as the miracle needed to declare John Paul II "blessed". A second miracle will be required to declare him a saint.

Pope Benedict XVI marked the fourth anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II with a memorial Mass and new prayers for his predecessor's beatification.

Benedict XVI presided over an evening Mass at St Peter's Basilica in which he recalled how beloved John Paul was, particularly among young Catholics.

"How many priestly vocations ... are linked to the testimony and preaching of my venerated predecessor!" Pope Benedict said urging young people to continue joining the priesthood and religious life.

Later, Benedict descended to the grottos underneath St Peter's and knelt for a few minutes of silent prayer before his predecessor's simple, marble tomb, decorated with a red rose.

The Pope sprinkled holy water in blessing before returning to the basilica upstairs and greeting some of the pilgrims.

The Pope told Polish pilgrims on Wednesday that he was praying for John Paul's beatification, the first step to possible canonisation.

Only a month after John Paul's death in 2005 Benedict XVI put him on the fast track for sainthood by waiving the usual five years before a person's life and works can be examined. Vatican officials said the process was taking its course, and the required miracle has been identified for examination.

One possible miracle involves the curing of a French nun with Parkinson's disease.

Cardinal Dziwisz said "there is always hope" that John Paul II will be announced a saint before the fifth anniversary of his death. But in an interview with Polish TVN24 television he said the process must go though all necessary stages "so there can be no doubt".

The cardinal - who now heads John Paul's old diocese of Krakow - indicated there was no shortage of potential cases of possible miracles to investigate.

The head of the Vatican's saint-making office, Archbishop Angelo Amato, said the process already got a boost when Benedict waived the five-year waiting period.

In an interview with Vatican Radio, he said the process must actually be more rigorous and thorough for a pope like John Paul since he was so well-known.

"Promptness doesn't mean speed or superficiality; on the contrary this requires care and professionalism," Archbishop Amato said.

The parliament in Poland, the pope's homeland, observed a minute of silence to mark the anniversary. Masses and prayers were also being held across Poland.

Meanwhile, a priest in the Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio, claimed that a man had recovered from a gunshot wound in the head after praying to John Paul II.

Fr Arthur Snedeker said the man's parents had been told by doctors that he would not survive.

The man, Jory Aebly, had been shot in the head during an apparent robbery while he and his friends were heading home after an evening out.

Fr Snedeker said: "I stand before you today and can say, to my mind, Jory is a miracle."