Workers setup a giant photo of late pope John Paul II at St Peter's square on April 27, 2011 at The Vatican. John Paul II will be honoured on May 1 at a solemn beatification ceremony in Saint Peter's basilica that will give the late pontiff 'blessed' status for the world's 1.1 billion Catholics and put him on the path towards full sainthood.
Faithful take a suovenir picture in front of a giant poster of late Pope John Paul II, in St. Peter's square, at the Vatican, April 28, 2011, days before John Paul's May 1 beatification. A prayer vigil on the Circus Maximus, an all-night prayer session in downtown Rome churches and the beatification Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI top the agenda for the three-day event.
Nuns walk past a giant poster of late Pope John Paul II, in St. Peter's square, at the Vatican, Thursday, April 28, 2011, days before John Paul's May 1 beatification. A prayer vigil on the Circus Maximus, an all-night prayer session in downtown Rome churches and the beatification Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI top the agenda for the three-day event.
Italian Carabinieri, paramilitary policemen, and a police officer, left, patrol in front of St. Peter's square, adorned with a giant poster of late Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, Thursday, April 28, 2011, days before John Paul's May 1 beatification. A prayer vigil on the Circus Maximus, an all-night prayer session in downtown Rome churches and the beatification Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI top the agenda for the three-day event.
Natalia Dmitrieva, of Russia, jumps as she poses for her husband Nikolay Dmitriev for a souvenir picture in St. Peter's square, adorned with a giant poster of late Pope John Paul II, seen in background center, at the Vatican, Thursday, April 28, 2011, days before John Paul's May 1 beatification. A prayer vigil on the Circus Maximus, an all-night prayer session in downtown Rome churches and the beatification Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI top the agenda for the three-day event.
Posters showing late Pope John Paul II hang from lamp posts along the road leading to the ancient Colosseum, days before John Paul's May 1 beatification, in Rome Wednesday, April 27, 2011. A prayer vigil on the Circus Maximus, an all-night prayer session in downtown Rome churches and the beatification Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI top the agenda for the three-day event. The poster reads in Romanesco, Rome's dialect " Let's get down to business, We're Romans".
People walk past placards showing pictures of late pope John Paul II exhibited in front of the Pontifical gregorian University in Rome on April 20, 2011. The Vatican said late pope John Paul II's coffin will lie in state after his beatification on May 1.
A man walks pasta placard showing a picture of late pope John Paul II exhibited in front of the Pontifical gregorian University in Rome on April 20, 2011. The Vatican said late pope John Paul II's coffin will lie in state after his beatification on May 1.
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Pope John Paul II waves to the crowd at the end of his Mass at Aqueduct Raceway in New York, in this October 6, 1995 file photo. The Vatican is preparing to elevate the late pontiff, John Paul II, one step closer to sainthood on May 1, 2011 in a ceremony of beatification.