Spirituality

Pope's blood to be built into altar

By T.K. Randall
January 23, 2011 ·  35 comments

Image Credit: Greudin Beatification, the process of pronouncing a deceased person worthy of Catholic divine recognition, is one of the final steps to possible sainthood. Former pope John Paul II will be beatified before a vial of his blood is encased in crystal and installed into an altar in Poland. The blood is a six-year-old remnant of tests done on the late pope shortly before his death. It was saved by Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, friend and secretary of John Paul II, who recently made the suggestion to treat the vital fluid as a holy relic. Opposition to the rite is not scarce; Reverend Krzysztof Madel, a Polish priest, has stated that "The tradition of relics comes from medieval practices of teaching the Bible through images and symbols...but in today's rationalized world the message should rather come through teaching about someone's life."[!gad]Beatification, the process of pronouncing a deceased person worthy of Catholic divine recognition, is one of the final steps to possible sainthood. Former pope John Paul II will be beatified before a vial of his blood is encased in crystal and installed into an altar in Poland. The blood is a six-year-old remnant of tests done on the late pope shortly before his death. It was saved by Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, friend and secretary of John Paul II, who recently made the suggestion to treat the vital fluid as a holy relic. Opposition to the rite is not scarce; Reverend Krzysztof Madel, a Polish priest, has stated that "The tradition of relics comes from medieval practices of teaching the Bible through images and symbols...but in today's rationalized world the message should rather come through teaching about someone's life."

Source: Sydney Morning Herald | Comments (35)

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