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If the pope is infallible, than what significance does beatifying and canonising him have? They did both to John Paul II, but it seems odd that the church wants to make him a saint, unless I am misunderstanding the concept of saints.

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You're not the only one who has queried these actions. It seems as though sainthood is now something that modern society expects the Church to apply to "nice people", but I don't believe that the Catholic Church would do something for those reasons, so there must be good, sound reasons for it. – Mark Henderson Aug 24 '11 at 0:56
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So far, John Paul II has only been beatified. Time will tell if he is canonized. – Greg Graham Aug 24 '11 at 1:11

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First, Catholic teaching is not that the Pope is infallible in everything he says and does, but rather infallible only when specifically exercising the authority of his office to pronounce doctrine.

Second, a Saint in the sense meant by the Catholic church is one whose life, witness and actions have been examined in depth and at length by church leadership and has been found to be significantly exemplary of the Christian ideal. They are recognized by the Catholic church as examples to emulate, and are made "official", so to speak, so that there is no confusion among believers as to what constitutes a great example.

Also, as Patrick pointed out in the comments, other conditions and prerequisites apply; among them is the requirement that at least two miracles be directly attributable to the individual under consideration.

Therefore, a Pope is not automatically a Saint (with a capital 'S' since all believers are saints in the general sense); in fact, historically, many of them were decidedly unchristian in their actions and some downright wicked. Some very reputable Catholics have said that the preservation of the doctrine of the Catholic church in spite of some of her Popes is remarkable, if not nothing short of miraculous.

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I may be way off base but I understood that for a person to be 'Sainted' by the Catholic Church they had to perform two independently certified miracles. Am I wrong in this? If true, I believe this greatly elevates that person above being merely a great example of a Christian. – Patrick Aug 24 '11 at 3:34
@Patrick: You are correct; I had forgotten about that requirement. And I agree that does raise the bar. Though the essence of what I am saying remains true. – Software Monkey Aug 24 '11 at 7:37
up vote 3 down vote

The infallibility of the Pope means that it is impossible for him (due to the guidance of the Holy Spirit) to lead the Church into wrong teaching in regards to faith and morals. However, it does not guarantee that the Pope is a morally good person. It is possible for someone to teach the truth, but not live it himself. There are many examples of Popes who were not great examples in their moral lives, but there are no Popes who in their teaching promoted immorality or heresy.

The Church beatifies and canonizes those Popes who lived extraordinarily exemplary Christian lives, and so far it is less than half of them. (Out of 266 Popes, I count 79 that are Saints.)

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It also does not mean that he is infallible in everything he says and does, but rather only when when specifically exercising the authority of his office to pronounce doctrine. – Software Monkey Aug 24 '11 at 1:25

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