It’s a very touching moment: The relic of Blessed John Paul II was taken to Madrid in accordance with the World Youth Day 2011. Pope John Paul II’s relic rests temporarily at the Apostolic Nunciature’s Chapel for the entire celebration. For most of you doesn’t know, Pope John Paul II was the architect and engineer of the first World Youth Day held in Rome in 1984 in response to the United Nation’s year of the youth. It was repeated again in 1985 as an official Catholic Church event complete with logos, theme songs, and theme passages from the bible. This was also the same year when the Pilgrim Cross was erected in Rome for the very first time and was handed down to the young Pilgrims to carry it across the Globe. The relic of Pope John PaulIi which was presented to Pope Benedict XVI during his beatification last May 1, 2011 and which was permanently enshrined at a Krakow Church bearing his name, has traveled to Spain for the event. The relic of Pope John Paul II consists of four small vials of blood which had been taken from him during his final days for a possible transfusion, but were never used. Two of the vials were given to John Paul’s private secretary, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, and another two remained at the Vatican’s Bambin Gesu hospital in the care of nuns. One of the hospital vials has been placed in a reliquary and presented during the beatification rights the other will remain with the nuns.

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