October 22 to be feast day of Blessed Pope John Paul II

The Holy See made the announcement this week.

October 22 in 1978 was the day Pope John Paul II was installed as Bishop of Rome, successor of St. Peter, and head of the Universal Church (he had been elected six days earlier, on October 16).

At the same time, L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, published the opening prayer for the feast day Mass. The prayer — called a “collect” — was written in Latin and translated into several languages, including English:

O God, who are rich in mercy
and who willed that the Blessed John Paul II
should preside as Pope over your universal Church,
grant, we pray, that instructed by his teaching,
we may open our hearts to the saving grace of Christ,
the sole Redeemer of mankind.
Who lives and reigns...

The feast can be celebrated liturgically each year in Rome and Poland.