Rome ? Pope John Paul II was placed Tuesday on what is expected to be a record-breaking sprint toward sainthood, amid mounting popular pressure for the beatification process to be completed by summer’s end.

At a grand ceremony at Rome’s Basilica of St. John Lateran, the officials who will examine his case took a solemn oath of secrecy and vowed to accept no gifts or money in pursuit of their duties, marking the official start of the “inquiry into the life, virtues and reputation of sanctity of the servant of God, John Paul II” just three months after his death.

The inquiry is the first step in a labyrinthine process that often takes decades and sometimes centuries. Under Vatican rules, a candidate normally must wait at least five years before his or her case can even be examined.

But after mourners at his funeral in April made their views forcefully known, chanting “Santo subito!” (“Sainthood now!”) and waving banners demanding John Paul’s immediate canonization, Pope Benedict XVI waived the waiting period, paving the way for the case to be heard in record time.

Pilgrims and faithful wave flags and cheer at Pope Benedict XVI, not seen in the picture, during the Tuesday feast, Many

In a reminder of the late pope’s continuing hold over the hearts of many faithful, hundreds of people crowded into the church and spilled onto the square outside where they followed the proceedings on large TV screens. When Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the vicar of Rome, declared his hope that the process “will quickly reach its crowning,” they cheered and chanted “Santo subito!” as they had at the funeral.

Many came from John Paul’s native Poland, and they expressed hope that his case would swiftly be resolved.

“In Poland, we want John Paul II to be an ‘express’ saint,” insisted Jack Jablonski, a baker who traveled from his homeland to attend the event. “It must take no more than three months.”