St. Elsewhere

By Harriet Barovick, Daniel S. Levy, Lina Lofaro, Michele Orecklin, David Spitz, Flora Tartakovsky and Chris Taylor

ESCALATOR TO HEAVEN Mother Teresa died only in 1997, yet already the Vatican has put her on the fast track to sainthood. That is not unusual for John Paul II, who has recognized more saints than any other Pope since the Vatican started keeping records in 1588. Here are five top candidates:

POPE BEATIFIED CANONIZED

JOHN PAUL II, 1978- 819 280 PIUS XI, 1922-39 380 34 PIUS IX, 1846-78 210 52 PIUS XII, 1939-58 148 33 LEO XIII, 1878-1903 102 18