Polish bishops seek return of John Paul II’s heart to Poland

Rome, Italy, Apr 11, 2008 / 01:28 am

Polish bishops are trying to have Pope John Paul II’s heart extracted and moved to the Polish cathedral where the Pope served as cardinal, AKI News reports.

Bishop Tadeusz Pieronek, speaking to the Polish Catholic news agency KAI, said that many Poles wanted the exhumed heart to be sent as a relic to the Wawel Cathedral in Krakow. 

Since his death in 2005, Pope John Paul II’s burial site in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica has been venerated by thousands daily.

Pope Benedict XVI, the present Pontiff, has waived the ordinary five-year waiting period required before investigations begin into Pope John Paul’s cause for beatification.

At a Mass last week commemorating the death of his predecessor, Pope Benedict praised John Paul II’s “many human and supernatural qualities,” including “an exceptional spiritual and mystical sensibility.”