Pope John Paul II greets young pilgrims during WYD 2000

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Cardinal Seán O'Malley to Dedicate Saint John Paul II Divine Mercy Shrine in Salem, MA

And Present a Relic of Pope Saint John Paul II

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BostonCatholic.org | Saint John Paul II Divine Mercy Shrine

What

Cardinal Seán will dedicate the Saint John Paul II Divine Mercy Shrine in Salem on Divine Mercy Sunday. The Cardinal will also present a relic of Saint John Paul II to the Shrine. The relic was a gift to Cardinal Seán from Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, the long-time priest assistant to Pope Saint John Paul II and Archbishop Emeritus of Kraków, Poland.

When

Sunday, April 8, 2018 at noon

Where

Saint John Paul II Divine Mercy Shrine

28 Saint Peter Street

Salem, Massachusetts 01970

Who

Cardinal Seán O’Malley, OFM Cap

Archbishop of Boston

Bishop Mark O’Connell

Auxiliary Bishop for the North Region of the Archdiocese of Boston

Very Reverend Pawel Bandurski

Provincial of the Society of Christ in America

Reverend Robert Bedzinski

Rector of the Shine and Priest of the Society of Christ

Schedule

12:00 PM – Mass with Cardinal Seán, Bishop Mark O’Connell, Father Pawel Bandurski and Father Robert Bedzinski

1:30 PM – Reception
2:30 PM – Adoration
3:00 PM – Stations of the Cross on the streets of downtown Salem
3:45 PM – Chaplet of Divine Mercy
Information

St. John Paul II Shrine of Divine Mercy sits at the center of downtown Salem in the former Saint John the Baptist Church. In August 2017 as part of the ongoing pastoral planning in the Archdiocese of Boston, Saint John the Baptist Parish, a Polish national parish, was suppressed. At that same time, two other Salem parishes, Saint James and Immaculate Conception, were consolidated into one parish dedicated to Mary, Queen of the Apostles.

The Saint John Paul II Shrine of Divine Mercy was born in Saint John the Baptist’s place. The Shrine’s upper church will be dedicated to the late pope and permanently house a relic of his blood. Additionally, a second relic of Saint Faustina, a Polish saint who received and promoted the message of Divine Mercy, will permanently be available for public veneration at the Shrine. The lower church will be dedicated to Divine Mercy.
Click on the video below to learn more about this pastoral initiative:

video
Divine Mercy Sunday

Please click here to learn more from Catholic TV about the significance of Divine Mercy Sunday.

Quote from Cardinal Seán:

“In today’s world where shrines are taking on such importance, we hope the presence of this new shrine will inspire people to go and seek contact with the Church and the sacraments through a pilgrimage experience. We know that the theme of mercy is very resonant with people. The devotion of Divine Mercy was promoted by Pope John Paul II and has been a very important part of many people’s devotional life. We are very grateful to Bishop Mark O’Connell for his tremendous leadership bringing the concept of a Shrine to life and to Father Robert Bedzinski, the Rector, for his great commitment to the faith community of Salem.”

For more information please visit: www.jpiidivinemercyshrine.org.
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Relic of Pope St. John Paul II
About the Archdiocese of Boston: The Diocese of Boston was founded on April 8, 1808 and was elevated to Archdiocese in 1875. Currently serving the needs of 1.8 million Catholics, the Archdiocese of Boston is an ethnically diverse and spiritually enriching faith community consisting of 286 parishes, across 144 communities, educating approximately 36,000 students in its Catholic schools and 156,000 in religious education classes each year, ministering to the needs of 200,000 individuals through its pastoral and social service outreach.  Mass is celebrated in nearly twenty different languages each week. For more information, please visit  www.BostonCatholic.org.

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