Relics of Pope John Paul II on display at Des Plaines shrine
Worshippers gathered Wednesday at Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine in Des Plaines to see the blood, hair and personal rosary of the late Pope St. John Paul II.
The relics of the longest-serving pope in modern history arrived at the shrine to honor the 100th anniversary of the Apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima. The anniversary celebrates when three children reported seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary in Portugal.
John Paul II credited the Virgin of Fatima with saving his life during an assassination attempt on her feast day in 1981.
William Thomas, a professor of Mariology at New College in Ireland and director of the Pope Saint John Paul II Institute of Marian Studies, gave a presentation on "The Apparitions of Fatima." The Rev. Esequiel Sanchez presided over Mass, with a blessing and veneration of the relics.