Wadowice, Poland, Jul 2, 2006 / 22:00 pm
A bronze statue of Pope John Paul II was unveiled in his hometown Friday.
Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, longtime personal secretary of the late pope and current archbishop of Krakow, unveiled the statue in front of Holy Mary Basilica in the town’s main square, reported the Associated Press.
Earlier, the cardinal had celebrated a memorial mass in the basilica where Karol Wojtyla, later Pope John Paul II, was baptized and served as an altar boy.
About 2,000 people attended the unveiling. Prayers were also offered for his quick beatification.
Pope Benedict XVI had already waived the customary five-year waiting period to begin the process for beatification of his predecessor.