Massachusetts Church Receives Relic of Saint John Paul II

A church relic has been installed at its new home at a Berkshire County church.

The blood-soaked swath of tunic bound inside an ornate cross was part of the clothing worn by St. John Paul II during an attempted assassination in 1981. The Berkshire Eagle reports Bishop Mitchell Rozanski visited Notre Dame Church in Adams on Saturday to celebrate Mass and formally induct the relic into the parish's collection.

John Paul was critically wounded in St. Peter's Square by a Turkish gunman representing a fascist group. Shots from the 9mm pistol penetrated his abdomen, small intestine and colon.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield says the fragment was donated by the "Be Not Afraid" Center in Linden, New Jersey. It will be regularly available for public veneration. 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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