John Paul II to be Declared Venerable on Saturday?

If reports in the Italian press are correct, Pope Benedict XVI is to sign a decree on Saturday proclaiming John Paul II 'Venerable' - the penultimate stage to beatification.

Last month, the Vatican voted unanimously in favour of John Paul II having shown 'heroic' virtue'. Once the decree is signed, the Vatican and the Pope need to approve a miracle attributed to his intercession.

One often hears remarkable stories about John Paul II from colleagues in the Vatican press corps. Speaking to one journalist this week, he recounted to me how the late Pope fell and broke his arm when meeting a head of state in the apostolic palace. But instead of ending the meeting, he went on, shaking the hands of everyone despite being in obvious pain.

On a trip to India, all the papal party including the Pope came down with a bout of illness. They all slunk off to their sick beds, he said, but John Paul carried on despite being in obvious discomfort.

John Paul would also happily break with convention and go and greet people. He once sat down with a group of African children in his white cassock and got thoroughly dirty. "The Vatican protocol officials hated him for this!" said the journalist who had followed him for 15 years. "But he would do whatever he thought was right."

He also stressed that when John Paul II died, "he had nothing - absolutely no possessions." He had given everything away.