Blood of Pope John Paul II to go on display at Vatican

[Songbird]

Blood of Pope John Paul II to go on display at Vatican

Pope John Paul II was nearly 85 when he died
Continue reading the main story Related Stories

• Q&A: John Paul II's beatification
• Popes moving closer to sainthood

Blood taken from Pope John Paul II before he died is to go on display at his beatification on Sunday.

One of four small vials of blood removed from John Paul during his final days will be used, the Vatican said in a statement.

The Polish pontiff is to be beatified at a ceremony celebrated by his successor, Pope Benedict XVI.

Pope John Paul II, whose papacy lasted 27 years, died on 2 April 2005 after battling Parkinson's disease.

More than 50 heads of state and several hundred thousand pilgrims are expected to travel to Rome for the beatification, a step before full sainthood.

'First degree relics'
After the death of John Paul, two of the vials of blood were given to the late pope's private secretary, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, now archbishop of Krakow, Poland.

The other two - one of which will be used for Sunday's beatification - were left in the care of nuns at the Vatican's Bambin Gesu hospital.

The vial will be placed in a "precious reliquary" prepared specially for the occasion by the Office of Papal Liturgical Celebrations.

After being extracted, the blood was mixed with an anti-coagulant in the container to ensure it remained liquid.

"The blood and hair, these are from of the pope's body, so these are relics of the first degree," Cardinal Dziwisz told AFP.

John Paul is credited with helping to end Communist rule in Europe, especially in his native Poland.

The beatification comes after Vatican authorities said they had confirmed a miracle - the cure of a French nun - attributed to the pope.

A second confirmed miracle is required by the Church for saintly status.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13205862

[Easyrider]

That's rather ghoulish.

[LONEWOLF]

These rituals of Catholicism are interesting to say the least.

[Theresej]

That's rather ghoulish.

Only to a modern western mindset. . . .actions can be difficult to understand when they are divorced from the culture and traditions that birthed them.

There is really nothing "goulish" about it.

[yatagan]

Only to a modern western mindset. . . .actions can be difficult to understand when they are divorced from the culture and traditions that birthed them.

There is really nothing "goulish" about it.

That is a matter of opinion.
And as far as miracles attributed to Santa Pope? Give me a break.

[Theresej]

That is a matter of opinion.
And as far as miracles attributed to Santa Pope? Give me a break.

Thank you for sharing your opinion. Bless you!

[natty threads]

That is a matter of opinion.
And as far as miracles attributed to Santa Pope? Give me a break.

We don't deride one another's faiths here

unless the faith is Islam or Socialism.

[GopherInTN]

Sorry Y'all but the Pope is not Jesus.....I don't equate the two as equal. I did like John Paul but he is just the messenger of the Father

I have to agree with Easy......kinda creeps me out and I am Catholic.

[DunDunDuuun]

Only to a modern western mindset. . . .actions can be difficult to understand when they are divorced from the culture and traditions that birthed them.

There is really nothing "goulish" about it.

Words mean things.



http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ghoulish
ghoulish [ˈguːlɪʃ]
adj
of or relating to ghouls; morbid or disgusting; unhealthily interested in death
ghoulishly adv
ghoulishness n




http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ghoulish
ghoul noun \ˈgül\
Definition of GHOUL

1
: a legendary evil being that robs graves and feeds on corpses
2
: one suggestive of a ghoul; especially : one who shows morbid interest in things considered shocking or repulsive
— ghoul·ish adjective
— ghoul·ish·ly adverb
— ghoul·ish·ness noun






http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ghoulish
ghoul·ish   
[goo-lish] Show IPA
–adjective
1.
strangely diabolical or cruel; monstrous: a ghoulish and questionable sense of humor.
2.
showing fascination with death, disease, maiming, etc.; morbid: ghoulish curiosity.
3.
of, pertaining to, or like a ghoul or ghouls.

Origin:
1835–45; ghoul + -ish

—Related forms
ghoul·ish·ly, adverb
ghoul·ish·ness, noun

[Theresej]

Words mean things.



http://www.thefreedictionary.com/ghoulish
ghoulish [ˈguːlɪʃ]
adj
of or relating to ghouls; morbid or disgusting; unhealthily interested in death
ghoulishly adv
ghoulishness n




http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ghoulish
ghoul noun \ˈgül\
Definition of GHOUL

1
: a legendary evil being that robs graves and feeds on corpses
2
: one suggestive of a ghoul; especially : one who shows morbid interest in things considered shocking or repulsive
— ghoul·ish adjective
— ghoul·ish·ly adverb
— ghoul·ish·ness noun






http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ghoulish
ghoul·ish   
[goo-lish] Show IPA
–adjective
1.
strangely diabolical or cruel; monstrous: a ghoulish and questionable sense of humor.
2.
showing fascination with death, disease, maiming, etc.; morbid: ghoulish curiosity.
3.
of, pertaining to, or like a ghoul or ghouls.

Origin:
1835–45; ghoul + -ish

—Related forms
ghoul·ish·ly, adverb
ghoul·ish·ness, noun

As I said . .to a modern, western mindset divorced from commonplace first hand experience of death that used to predominate before the advent of modern medicine and hospitals.

It's a matter of perspective. What is morbid, etc to you, is not to others.