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SW Side Parish Eager To Celebrate Canonization Of Pope John Paul II

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Catholic church on Chicago's Southwest Side with ties to the late Pope John Paul II is eager to celebrate his canonization in the spring, reports WBBM's Nancy Harty.

The Vatican's decision to make John Paul II a saint along with Pope John XXIII the Sunday after Easter makes perfect sense to Father Wojech Baryski.

SW Side Parish Eager To Celebrate Canonization Of Pope John Paul II

The pastor of Five Holy Martyrs says that was when Pope John Paul II was first beatified two years ago. Fr. Baryski met him when he was a cardinal in 1976 and showed him around San Francisco.

"You could feel that something is special about this man," said Baryski.

Fr. Baryski says that something special he felt about the future pope was obvious when in the middle of a beautiful cathedral, the young cardinal was interested only in praying.

Five Holy Martyrs plans to hold a special mass on April 26. In his life, John Paul II visited the parish three times: twice as cardinal and once as pope.

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