Multimedia museum opens for John Paul II's sainthood
WADOWICE, Poland - Authorities say that a new museum telling the life story of Polish-born Pope John Paul II will open this week, just weeks before he is made a saint.
The multimedia museum will open Wednesday in the southern city of Wadowice, at the house where the pope was born Karol Wojtyla on May 18, 1920. He is to be canonized in a Vatican ceremony on April 27.
The director, the Rev. Dariusz Ras said Monday the museum documents John Paul's life from birth to the moment when he was elected pope in 1978 and his 26-year papacy.
The museum features personal items, family documents and also the gun which a wound-be assassin use in an attack on the pope in 1981.
The Bible from which fragments were read to Pope John Paul II during his illness, and a portrait of the late Pope are pictured at the new multimedia museum to the pope that will open this week at his birth house in Wadowice, Poland, on Monday, April 7, 2014. John Paul II is to be made a saint during a Vatican ceremony, led by Pope Francis on April 27.
Associated Press
A prayer kneeler is part of the historic house museum of the Pope John Paul II Family Home at the new multimedia museum to the pope that will open this week at his birth house in Wadowice, Poland, on Monday, April 7, 2014. John Paul II is to be made a saint during a Vatican ceremony, led by Pope Francis on April 27.
Associated Press
An oven as part of the historic museum of the Pope John Paul II Family Home at the new multimedia museum to the pope that will open this week at his birth house in Wadowice, Poland, on Monday, April 7, 2014. John Paul II is to be made a saint during a Vatican ceremony, led by Pope Francis on April 27.
Associated Press
The figure of blessed Pope John Paul II is pictured before the Holy Mary' Offering Basilica where he was baptized as an infant in Wadowice, Poland, on Monday, April 7, 2014. The basilica neighbors the house where the pope was born as Karol Wojtyla in 1920 and where a multimedia museum will open in his memory on Wednesday, just over two weeks before he will be made a saint in a Vatican ceremony April 27.
Associated Press
A woman stands in front of the figure of blessed Pope John Paul II before the Holy Mary' Offering Basilica where he was baptized as an infant in Wadowice, Poland, on Monday, April 7, 2014. The basilica neighbors the house where the pope was born as Karol Wojtyla in 1920 and where a multimedia museum will open in his memory on Wednesday, just over two weeks before he will be made a saint in a Vatican ceremony April 27.
Associated Press
The sneakers, an electric torch and a plastic bottle that future Pope John Paul II used as priest and bishop during his kayaking and mountain trekking excursions in Poland, surrounded by picture from those excursions and from the family album displayed at a new multimedia museum in his birth house in Wadowice, Poland on Monday, April 7, 2014. The museum opens this week, ahead of the Vatican ceremony during which he will be made a saint April 27.
Associated Press
The Browning HP 9 mm handgun that would-be assassin Ali Agca used against Pope John Paul II injuring him in a May 13, 1981 attack in St. Peter's Square in Rome, is pictured at the new Pope Museum in Wadowice, Poland, Monday, April 7, 2014. The gun is among items on display at a new multimedia museum in the Pope's birth house in Wadowice. The museum opens this week, ahead of the Vatican ceremony during which he will be made a saint April 27.
Associated Press
Original robes that cardinals wore during the 2005 funeral of Pope John Paul II at the Vatican and a copy of the Book of Gospels that the wind closed during that ceremony, are on display at the new multimedia museum to the pope that will open this week at his birth house in Wadowice, Poland, on Monday, April 7, 2014. John Paul II is to be made a saint during a Vatican ceremony, led by Pope Francis on April 27.
Associated Press
A woman prays in the chapel dedicated to Pope John Paul II with a reliquary containing a drop of his blood at Holy Mary's Offering Basilica in Wadowice, Poland, on Monday, April 7, 2014. The basilica where he was baptized as an infant neighbors the house where the pope was born as Karol Wojtyla in 1920 and where a multimedia museum will open in his memory on Wednesday, just over two weeks before he will be made a saint in a Vatican ceremony April 27.
Associated Press
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