John Paul II regarded the creation of saints as a way to restore the intensity of devotion which he felt the contemporary church had lost. He speeded up the process of sainthood – making a record 482 saints – by giving the task to a dedicated Vatican bureau, and also by abolishing the "devil's advocate" whose task was to find reasons a candidate might be rejected.

Figures of immense controversy were sainted during John Paul's long reign, notably Padre Pio, the Capuchin friar famous for bearing stigmata, flying through the air and being in two places at once – as well as for being a fraud and a lecher. Equally controversial was the canonisation in 2002 of Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei, known as the "Holy Mafia".