A group of people pray before a statue of the late Pope John Paul II, whose memory has cast a long shadow in every sense.
The former pontiff will be declared a saint on April 27 just nine years after his death – a record for modern times. Already mementos and images of the Polish pope can be found all over the Catholic world.
24 Apr 2014 . CZESTOCHOWA, Poland. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
As pontiff, John Paul travelled to around 140 countries – in most cases marking their first papal visit.
Not only did he make the papacy more visible internationally, he was also credited with being instrumental in the fall of communism in Eastern Europe in 1989 because of his steadfast defence of the Solidarity trade union in Poland.
Millions of people attended his funeral in April, 2005, and many cried "Santo Subito" or "Make him a saint immediately".
16 Apr 2014 . Kielce, Poland. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
But though John Paul's image can be found all over the world, his canonisation is not without controversy.
Some say the decision to declare him a saint less than a decade after he died is too hasty. Critics accuse him of being too slow to grasp the seriousness of the sexual abuse crisis that emerged towards the end of his pontificate.
Nevertheless, more than a million people are expected to flock to Rome - many of them to the Vatican - for a ceremony at which Pope Francis will raise both him and Pope John XXIII, who reigned from 1958 to 1963, to sainthood.