WARSAW, April 2, 2008 (AFP) - Poles gathered for candle light vigils Wednesday to mark three years since the death of Polish-born Pope John Paul II, already hailed a saint in his homeland ahead of his Vatican beatification.

Hundreds of young Poles gathered in Warsaw's Saint Anne's church, where the late head of the Roman Catholic Church had met with students during several of his pilgrimages home.

Others lit candles on the capital's central Pilsudski Square, where historians believe the pope inspired fellow Poles to begin a peaceful struggle against communism in 1979, when he prayed for the Holy Spirit 'to renew the face of this land'.

His words marked his homeland, where more than 90 percent of the population of 38 million is Roman Catholic.

Solidarity, the communist bloc's first independent trade union, rose up a year later. It saw 10 million Poles go on strike spontaneously demanding basic rights and freedoms.

Solidarity was driven underground after a regime crackdown in 1981, but reemerged to negotiate a peaceful end to communism in Poland in 1989.

In Krakow, where Karol Wojtyla was archbishop before being elected pope in 1978, youths were to carry his kayak through the Medieval city's picturesque cobbled streets.

An avid sportsman, Wojtyla was known for his love of kayaking in Poland's northeastern Mazurian Lakes region and hiking and skiing in its southern Tatra mountains.

Thousands were expected to gather in homage in front of a central window at Krakow's archbishop's palace Wednesday night.

During his visits home, the pope made a point of appearing in the window at dusk for now historic evening chats with thousands of young Poles.

Youths plan to raise flickering candles to the sky at the site at 9:37 pm (1937 GMT), the exact time of the pope's death on April 2, 2005, with prayers for his rapid canonisation as a saint.

Similar evening events were planned in his nearby hometown of Wadowice.

Countless Roman Catholic masses, concerts and other public events were planned elsewhere across Poland Wednesday in memory of the country's most famous former Church leader.

The beatification process for John Paul II is nearly complete but a 'precise date' cannot be set to take the first step to sainthood, the prelate in charge of the dossier said Tuesday.

'For now it is premature to give a precise date for the definitive completion of the dossier,' Slawomir Oder, the Catholic Church official in charge of promoting the cause to declare John Paul II a saint, told Radio Vatican on the eve of the third anniversary.