Kościół pw. Świętego Jana Pawła II (ul. Totus Tuus)
Churches of Kraków
Church (Roman Catholic), Łagiewniki-Borek Fałęcki district. Architect: Andrzej Mikulski. A place of pilgrimage (shrine).
History
The Church of St John Paul II in Kraków's Łagiewniki is part of the John Paul II Centre "Nie lękajcie się" ("Be Not Afraid") and was designed by the architect Andrzej Mikulski. Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, then Metropolitan Archbishop of Kraków, blessed it on 23 June 2013 and solemnly consecrated it on 16 October 2016. The building is octagonal in plan, and its style recalls the Byzantine churches of Ravenna, such as the Basilica of San Vitale. An observation tower stands nearby.
The church has two levels. On the lower one, known as the Church of Relics, the centrepiece is an eight-sided hall with a marble altar. Inside the altar, in a glass casket, is a phial of John Paul II's blood, taken during one of his tests at the Gemelli clinic. Next to it lies the Pope's pastoral cross. Around the hall runs a ring of chapels for prayer and oratories dedicated to Marian shrines, and in one of them Cardinals Andrzej Maria Deskur and Stanisław Nagy are buried.
The upper church is also octagonal in plan. The mosaics in the chancel and on the walls were designed by Fr Marko Ivan Rupnik. The entrances are closed by three bronze doors with cast scenes featuring John Paul II. At the side of the nave a second relic is on display: the cassock the Pope was wearing on 13 May 1981, the day of the assassination attempt.
Did you know?
The Priests' Chapel in the lower church is modelled on the Crypt of St Leonard at Wawel. It holds a slab from John Paul II's tomb, which comes from the Vatican Grottoes beneath St Peter's Basilica, and on it stands a reliquary in the form of an open Book of the Gospels.