Vatican kicks off John Paul II beatification

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican has begun the countdown to Pope John Paul II’s beatification by posting a YouTube video of his famous first papal speech, when the Polish-born pontiff asked the Roman crowd to correct him when he made mistakes in Italian.

The clip was one of several from the early years of John Paul’s pontificate posted on the Vatican’s YouTube channel and linked to its new Facebook page ahead of the May 1 beatification. Both were launched Monday after The Associated Press reported on the initiatives this weekend.

The first clip shows the-then Cardinal Karol Wojtyla entering the Vatican in his crimson cardinal robes for the 1978 conclave and emerging on the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica as pope after it was announced “Habemus Papam!”