The recent report detailing the Vatican’s response to the scan-dal surrounding ex-Cardinal Theo-dore McCarrick shows why it’s a mistake to canonize Popes (or anyone) quickly after their deaths.
According to the Vatican report released, Pope John Paul II received warnings about McCarrick from Vatican officials and New York Cardinal John O’Connor in 1999. Two years later, McCarrick was installed as archbishop of Washington, D.C.  John Paul was beatified in 2011, six years after his death, and was made a saint three years later.
It’s not just Popes: The church needs more time to examine any person’s life. The people of Argentina, for example, wanted to canonize Eva Peron immediately after her death in 1952. At the time, thankfully, the mandatory waiting period before the canonization process could begin was 50 years. Though she is still revered by many Argentines, Peron’s reputation has been clouded in recent years by accusations that she and her husband harbored Nazis after World War II.
John Paul reduced the waiting period from 50 to five years, because he wanted to canonize individuals who were still relevant to today’s generation. His successor, Pope Benedict XVI, waived even that for John Paul’s canonization in response to popular demand. -RNS