Biggest event in Rome since John Paul’s 2005 funeral more than a million faithful gathered near Vatican Pope’s coffin exhumed, put on display.

The late Pope John Paul moved a major step closer to sainthood on Sunday at a joyous ceremony that drew more than a million people, the largest crowd in Rome since his funeral six years ago.

"From now on Pope John Paul shall be called 'blessed'", Pope Benedict, wearing resplendent white and gold robes, solemnly proclaimed in Latin, establishing that his predecessor's feast day would be October 22, the day of the inauguration of John Paul's history-making pontificate in 1978.

To the cheers of the huge crowd, a tapestry showing a smiling John Paul was unveiled seconds after Benedict read the proclamation.

Police estimated the crowd at more than a million people. Many camped out during the night in the square, which was bedecked with posters of the late pope and one of his most famous sayings, "Do not be afraid!"

In his homily, Benedict noted that the late Pope, whom he praised as having had "the strength of a titan" and who gave millions of people "the strength to believe", had blessed crowds thousands of times from his window overlooking the same square.

"Bless us now," Benedict said.

The pope was beatified on the day the Church celebrates the Feast of Divine Mercy, which this year fell on May 1, coinciding with the most important workers' holiday in the communist world.

Some 90 official delegations from around the world, including members of five European royal families and 16 heads of state, attended the beatification.

Pope John Paul's coffin was exhumed on Friday from the crypts below St Peter's Basilica and will be placed in front of the main altar. It will remain there and the basilica will remain open until all visitors who want to view it have done so.

It will then be moved to a new crypt under an altar in a side chapel near Michelangelo's statue of the Pieta. The marble slab that covered his first burial place will be sent to Poland.

John Paul's beatification has set a new speed record for modern times, taking place six years and one month after his death on April 2, 2005, where his historic reign lasted nearly 27 years.