In the eyes of the Church he is destined for sainthood. For many in Buffalo Pope John Paul II has already done all he needs to prove his holiness.

To honor the man who fought communism in his native Poland, then rose to highest rank in the Catholic Church, St. Stanislaus Parish in Buffalo has been named an official diocesan shrine dedicated to Blessed John Paul II.

Already known as the mother church of Polonia, the church earned the new designation after Father Thaddeus N. Bocianowski, pastor, received a first-class relic of the late pontiff, the first of Polish descent. 

A shrine is a church or sacred place, which, with approval of the local ordinary, is by reason of special devotion frequented by the faithful as pilgrims.

“A shrine is a special place for all the people who believe that through the intercession of the blessed or saint they will receive some graces,” said Father Bocianowski.

The relic, a drop of Blessed John Paul’s blood, is currently displayed in front of a statue of the man himself just in front of the pews

Father Bocianowski, who was born in Poland and attended seminary in John Paul’s homeland of Krakow, sent a letter to Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, archbishop of Krakow, requesting a relic in May, immediately after learning of the pope’s beatification.

The late pope also visited the church twice as Cardinal Karol Wojtyla in 1969 and 1976.

“So we have some connections,” Father Bocianowski said.

Plans call for a permanent display honoring five Poles in various levels of sainthood – the pope; St. Faustina, who witnessed an apparition of Jesus; St. Maximilian Kolbe, who volunteered to die in Auschwitz; Blessed Mary Angela Truszkowska, founder of the Felician Sisters; and Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko, who was martyred for his work in Poland’s Solidarity movement.

Bishop Edward U. Kmiec came to St. Stanislaus to celebrate Thanksgiving Mass for the relic of Blessed John Paul II last October. The Mass, entitled “Be Not Afraid,” doubled as a thank you to the bishop for his seven years serving Buffalo’s Polonia. Father Bocianowski presented Bishop Kmiec with a stole bearing a portrait of the late pope on it. He wore it at his anniversary Mass on Oct. 30.

The parish will now hold special celebrations every year on April 2 to mark the Holy Father’s death, May 20 for his birthday, and on or near Oct. 22, his feast day. A special Papal Mass is celebrated every third Thursday of the month with veneration of the relics and a litany.

The choice to have the Mass during the third Thursday of the month, came because the late pope was elected as pope Oct. 16, 1978, but his first Mass was on Oct. 22.

“So between 16 and 22 we have the third Thursday,” Father Bocianowski said. “Thursday is dedicated to the fourth mysteries of the rosary, the light. The light is always on Thursday.”

Other shrines dedicated to Blessed John Paul are planned for Washington, D.C., and Bataan, Phillipines. The Diocese of Buffalo has shrines dedicated to the Sacred Heart, Our Lady Help of Christians, Our Lady of Victory, Our Lady of Fatima, the Infant Jesus and St. Jude.