"John Paul II still a rock star"

afp.com

"Before selfie-snapping Francis, there was John Paul II, the charismatic Polish pope who made a name for himself by circling the globe and talking to anyone and everyone.

"He broke protocol. I know that security had trouble keeping an eye on him. He sometimes wandered off when he felt like it," Warsaw sociologist Pawel Boryszewski said of the soon-to-be saint who died in 2005.

Throughout his 27-year papacy, the polyglot and onetime actor travelled to more than 100 countries, embracing modern ways of spreading the Gospel -- with an approachability hitherto alien to the church.

Over the years the former Karol Wojtyla built up a loyal following that is still alive and kicking, first and foremost at home but also in other Catholic countries where fans are finding special ways to mark his canonisation.

A Polish marathoner is running to Rome in time for the April 27 mass that will make saints of John Paul II and John XXIII, an event expected to draw up to five million people from across the world.

A German car collector is making the journey in a vehicle that once belonged to the pontiff himself -- now spruced up and with the licence plate IL JP2H, the H standing for the German for saint.

In the Philippines, Asia's Catholic outpost, hundreds have turned out to kiss his relics, including hair strands, bloodstained clothing and a cassock, on exhibit at various venues there over the coming months.

"I am so happy. I am ready to die now that I have seen his relics," retired grade school teacher Gene Suarez, 67, told AFP at a Manila chapel.

In Ireland, pope-themed items are going fast at shops linked to the country's top Roman Catholic shrine in Knock, which John Paul II visited a year into his papacy in 1979.

"People (are) coming along again looking for items related to him, be that a picture, a relic, a prayer card or whatever," said Peg Carmody, manager of the Knock Shrine Souvenir Shop."

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