A truly beloved pontiff -- and crucial figure in the fall of communism in Eastern Europe -- has been recognized as "venerable" by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI, putting the first Polish pope a step closer to sainthood. CNN explains:

"A miracle attributed to Pope John Paul's intervention will have to be verified for him to be declared 'blessed,' or beatified. A second miracle would have to be confirmed for him to then be officially canonized, or made a saint.

It's too early to say how long that process may take, said Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi.

'It is recognized that he led a Christian life in a heroic and extraordinary manner,' Lombardi told CNN. 'This is a fundamental step in the road toward sainthood. Now comes the examination of a miracle, which is the proof of the divine interceding power of John Paul II on behalf of God.'

John Paul II died on April 2, 2005, at the age of 84. Several months after his death, his successor said he had dispensed with rules that normally impose a five-year waiting period before beatification.

The rule is intended to allow time for evidence and witnesses supporting the sainthood cause to be prepared, as well as to wait for emotions to dissipate after death.

But John Paul himself set a precedent in 1999 when he granted a dispensation and let Mother Teresa's sainthood cause begin only two years after her death."

I predict a short path to sainthood for John Paul. Not only would one be hard-pressed to argue against it, but popular sentiment clamors for it, as with Mother Teresa.

(Photo by J. Emilio Flores/Getty Images)

Vandals, profiteers, anti-Semites? These questions remain as police in Poland have detained five men in connection with the theft of the infamous sign over the gate of the Auschwitz death camp, which will observe the 65th anniversary of liberation on Jan. 27. The "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign, stolen on Friday night, was recovered early Monday after a police hunt that included monitoring the borders. More:

"Police spokeswoman Katarzyna Padlo told The Associated Press that the sign was found in northern Poland. She said police also detained five men aged between 25 and 39 who are being transported to Krakow for questioning.

Another spokesman, Dariusz Nowak, said the sign was cut into three pieces, each containing one of the words.

...The police refused to divulge any details of the circumstances in which the sign was found or to speculate on the motive of the perpetrators."

More than one million people died at the World War II Nazi camp Auschwitz. The sign above the labor camp translates to "Work sets you free."

(Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who's never been known to exactly mince words, sounded the alarm over the fractious Copenhagen climate summit, which has been marked by sniping divides over who needs to take action and who needs to pay for it. More from Agence France-Presse:

"'There is less than 24 hours. If we carry on like this, it will be a failure,' Sarkozy warned angrily from the conference podium. 'Failure at Copenhagen would catastrophic for all of us.'

The European Union called for an emergency meeting of 'relevant players' at the summit in a bid to break the deadlock.

More than 120 leaders, including US President Barack Obama, are heading for the summit on Friday, but none held out hope of a deal that could rescue the 12 days of negotiations.

'Coming back with an empty agreement would be far worse than coming back empty-handed,' said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs before Obama left Washington.

In Copenhagen, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused developing nations -- without naming them -- of backsliding on pledges to open their controls on carbon emissions to scrutiny.

The question is 'a deal-breaker for us,' she said.

China and India say they are willing to take voluntary measures to slow their surges in heat-trapping greenhouse-gas emissions.

But they are reluctant to accept tough international scrutiny and insist rich nations shoulder the main burden by accepting huge reduction targets."

In other Copenhagen news, the global warming battle was rudely interrupted by, well, a freezin' cold blizzard! There's just something about fussing over global warming under four inches of snow.

And in the Copenhagen Dictator Watch, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blames capitalism for climate change, a cry echoed by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe.

(Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

The Copenhagen climate summit heats up this week with U.S. President Barack Obama speaking at the U.N. conference on Friday, and the arrival today of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who called upon participating nations to step up the climate talks and "seal the deal" for the good of all mankind. More from the U.N. press center:

"The two-week summit under way in the Danish capital is 'as momentous as the negotiations that created our great United Nations... from the ashes of war more than 60 years ago,' Mr. Ban said at the opening of the conference's high-level segment.

'Once again, we are on the cusp of history.'

With the two-week summit set to wrap up on Friday, Mr. Ban underscored that nations cannot be allowed to fail in the home stretch, urging countries to put aside their 'maximalist' negotiating positions and 'unreasonable' demands.

...Talks were briefly suspended yesterday by African nations over the future of the Kyoto Protocol, currently the only legally binding pact on climate change.

Many industrialized countries are hoping to merge the Protocol and the outcome of the two-week Copenhagen meeting, in its second week, into a single agreement.

However, their developing counterparts, among the least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, want to extend the Protocol past 2012, when its first commitment period ends, and hammer out a separate agreement this week in the Danish capital."

(Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)