Sir/mam, the Devil’s Advocate still exists. The title was changed to the Defender of The Faith. I’d rather be called that than the advocate of the devil. Second, the Defender of the Faith did concede the point that John Paul II lived a heroic life of Christian virtue that could not be denied. Unless he signs that sworn statement, the case cannot be presented to the Pope to declare the candidate Venerable. Even then, then case moves up to a committee of five cardinals who must also sign that they concur with the Defender of the Faith. Then the request moves to the Holy Father who must sign that he too concurs with everyone beneath him that the person lived a heroic Christian life and he asks the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to prepare the decree of Venerable. The decree is presented to the Holy Father, who again reads all of the arguments and then signs it.
From there the process moves to prove that at least one alleged miracle is true. The pope can dismiss this step. Pope Benedict chose to leave it in place.
The Devils Advocate or Promoter of the Faith ((Latin: promotor fidei), "was established in 1587 during the reign of Pope Sixtus V and abolished by Pope John Paul II in 1983. This reform changed the canonization process considerably, helping John Paul II to usher in an unprecedented number of elevations"
From Wiki:
The office was established in 1587 during the reign of Pope Sixtus V and abolished by Pope John Paul II in 1983.[2] This reform changed the canonization process considerably, helping John Paul II to usher in an unprecedented number of elevations: nearly 500 individuals were canonized and over 1,300 were beatified during his tenure as Pope as compared to only 98 canonizations by all his 20th-century predecessors, which has led many[who?] to question the validity of the process and whether all of those canonized today are deserving of the recognition.[citation needed] Such a dramatic increase suggests that the office of the Devil's Advocate had served to reduce the number of canonizations. It is argued[who?] that it served a useful role in ensuring that canonizations did not proceed without due care and hence the status of sainthood was not easily achieved.