John Paul II's blood to be relic in Polish church
By Associated Press
Jan 17, 2011 6:41 AM CST
Polish nun sister Kaliksza from Kamesznica, Poland, prays next to a portrait of late Pope John Paul II, top left, in Rome's St. Stanislaw Polish church, Friday, Jan. 14, 2011. Pope Benedict XVI has approved a miracle attributed to Pope John Paul II's intercession and set May 1 as the date for the beloved...   (Associated Press)

An official says a vial containing the blood of Pope John Paul II will be installed as a relic in a Polish church soon after his beatification.

Piotr Sionko, the spokesman for the John Paul II Center, says the vial will be built into the altar of a church in Krakow that is opening in May.

Sionko said Monday the idea came from Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the archbishop of Krakow and the longtime friend and secretary of the late Polish pontiff.

Many Catholic Poles are rejoicing over Pope Benedict XVI's announcement last week that he will beatify John Paul on May 1.

Sionko said the blood was drawn for medical tests at Rome's Gemelli Polyclinic shortly before John Paul's death on April 2, 2005, and has been in Dziwisz's care.