Pope John Paul the Second has canonized more people than any pope in history. But do all these holy men and women deserve to be saints? Historian Garry Wills doesn't think so. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the politics of sainthood.

Historian Garry Wills tells Steve Paulson about the Vatican's creation of several "Holocaust saints" and criticizes the Pope's failure to apologize for past Papal sins. Wills won a Pulitzer for "Lincoln at Gettysburg." His most recent book is "Papal Sin: Structures of Deceit." Also, Cathleen Medwick, author of "Theresa of Avila: The Progress of A Soul," tells Jim Fleming that Theresa was both a shrewd businesswoman and a religious mystic. We also hear actress Sara Day read excerpts from Theresa's autobiography.

Actor, playwright and activist Carolyn Gage does a performance piece called "The Second Coming of Joan of Arc." We hear several excerpts, and Gage tells Judith Strasser why she thinks Joan of Arc was a trans-gendered butch, and why her story should speak to all women today. (You can find more information on Carolyn Gage on her web site at: http://www.javanet.com/~cgage.)

Martha Sherrill, a writer for the Washington Post and author of "The Buddha from Brooklyn," tells Jim Fleming about Jetsunma. Born Catherine Burroughs, this big-haired, twice divorced mother now runs one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist Centers in the United States and is seen by her followers as a reincarnation of a 16th century Tibetan saint.

Distribution dates:

• week of 07/16/2000 - hour 2