The St. John Paul II Shrine in Washington

Saint John Paul II National Shrine, 3900 Harewood Rd NE, Washington, Zvezno okrožje Kolumbija, Združene države Amerike

Website of the Sanctuary

+1 202 635 5400

Every day: from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Permanent exhibit overview in the St. John Paul II Shrine

A Gift of Love: The Life of St. John Paul II, a major exhibit covering some 16,000 square feet, allows pilgrims to immerse themselves in the life and teaching of this pope and saint.

The exhibit leads the pilgrim on a spiritual itinerary through Karol Wojtyła’s early years and the maturing of his vocation as a priest and bishop amidst some of the darkest moments of the twentieth century.

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Personal artifacts, texts, images and interactive displays combine to illustrate the Pope’s historic election, his passion for “Christ, the Redeemer of Man” and his courageous defense of the dignity of the human person.

Through the dramatic events of John Paul II’s 25-year pontificate, and finally through the witness he bore in his final illness and death, the visitor can glimpse the fruitfulness of a life given over in service – the fruitfulness of a human being who, like his Lord, sought to love “to the end” (John 13:1).

Relics of Saint John Paul II.

From the deaths of the first martyrs, when the faithful carefully gathered and honored their remains, Christians have venerated relics. The churches where these relics were kept quickly became places of pilgrimage, where Christians went to strengthen their faith and pray for particular intentions, aware that “communion with the saints joins us to Christ, from whom … issues all grace, and the life of the People of God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 957).

Catholics do not worship relics; rather they venerate the bodily remains or the clothing of a saint as an expression of reverence for their holiness of life. This grateful reverence is above all directed at God, who can so transform a human life that becomes, body and soul, a “living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Romans 12:1).

At the St. John Paul II National Shrine, pilgrims may venerate two relics of Saint John Paul II.
A first-class relic of Saint John Paul II’s blood is contained in a glass ampoule at the center of an ornate reliquary.

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This relic was given as a gift to Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson by His Eminence Stanisław Cardinal Dziwisz, Archbishop of Kraków and personal secretary to John Paul II. A second relic, housed at this shrine for veneration by pilgrims, is a piece of the blood-stained cassock worn by Saint John Paul II on the day of the assassination attempt on his life in St. Peter’s Square.

Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!

Relics of Saint John Paul II.

From the deaths of the first martyrs, when the faithful carefully gathered and honored their remains, Christians have venerated relics. The churches where these relics were kept quickly became places of pilgrimage, where Christians went to strengthen their faith and pray for particular intentions, aware that “communion with the saints joins us to Christ, from whom … issues all grace, and the life of the People of God” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 957).

Catholics do not worship relics; rather they venerate the bodily remains or the clothing of a saint as an expression of reverence for their holiness of life. This grateful reverence is above all directed at God, who can so transform a human life that becomes, body and soul, a “living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Romans 12:1).

At the St. John Paul II National Shrine, pilgrims may venerate two relics of Saint John Paul II.
A first-class relic of Saint John Paul II’s blood is contained in a glass ampoule at the center of an ornate reliquary. This relic was given as a gift to Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson by His Eminence Stanisław Cardinal Dziwisz, Archbishop of Kraków and personal secretary to John Paul II. A second relic, housed at this shrine for veneration by pilgrims, is a piece of the blood-stained cassock worn by Saint John Paul II on the day of the assassination attempt on his life in St. Peter’s Square.

Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!

The St. John Paul II National Shrine

The St. John Paul II National Shrine is first and foremost a place of the worship of the God who became man in Jesus Christ. Yet as Saint John Paul II often repeated, in revealing God, Jesus Christ also reveals man to himself (cf. Vatican II, Gaudium et Spes, 22). The Shrine is thus not only a place where men and women can receive the Christian sacraments, but also find pastoral care and participate in educational and cultural opportunities that help them to grow in their humanity.

The Shrine is a place of pilgrimage housing two first-class relics of Saint John Paul II. Here, through liturgy and prayer, art, and cultural and religious formation, visitors can enter into its patron’s deep love for God and for man.

From its conception, the Shrine was intended as a response to Saint John Paul II’s, Pope Benedict XVI’s and Pope Francis’ call for a “new evangelization.” It is meant to be a place of the genuine encounter with God that leads to a renewal of individuals, families, societies and cultures – a place where the God who “entered history” (John Paul II, Homily, Dec. 24, 1999) heals and renews every dimension of human life.

The Shrine was designated a national shrine on March 14, 2014 by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!

The Knights of Columbus and the St. John Paul II National Shrine

The Shrine is a major pastoral initiative of the Knights of Columbus, a lay Catholic fraternal organization with approximately two million members around the world. Faithful to the mission and legacy of the John Paul II Cultural Center, which previously occupied the premises, the Knights began the renovations required to convert the building into its present form: a place of worship seamlessly integrated with a major permanent exhibition and opportunities for cultural and religious formation.

It is the Knights’ hope that this initiative will serve the life of the Church in the Americas and will thus bear abundant fruit for the universal Church and for the world.

Let us remain close in the same prayer! May the Lord bless you abundantly!

Posted in North America and United States