WARSAW: A vial containing blood drawn from Pope John Paul II shortly before he died will be installed as a relic in a Polish church soon after his beatification this year.

Piotr Sionko, the spokesman for the John Paul II Centre, said the vial would be encased in crystal and built into the altar of a church in the southern city of Krakow that is opening in May.

Pope John Paul II ... successor will beatify him in May. Credit:AFP

The exact date of the opening is not yet known, but it should be shortly after John Paul's beatification at the Vatican on May 1.

Mr Sionko said the idea came from Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the Archbishop of Krakow and a long-time friend and secretary of the late pontiff.