KRAKOW, Poland - The new Basilica of God's Mercy, which Pope John Paul II will consecrate during a Mass on Saturday, was built to accommodate pilgrims devoted to mystical texts written by Poland's first native female saint.
Until now, a small chapel in the adjacent red-brick convent has been the focal point for the cult of God's Mercy, which spread following the death of Helena Kowalska, or Sister Faustine, in 1938. Pope John Paul II elevated her to sainthood in April 2000.
During World War II, the pope, then the young Karol Wojtyla, used to pray at the convent's chapel on his way to forced labor under Nazis at the nearby Solvay salt quarry.
The boat-shaped white marble-clad church features pale wood accents and tall windows incorporating modern and traditional ecclesiastical architecture and can accommodate more than 4,000 worshippers. A 40-meter-tall (yard) tall tower next to the basilica provides a view of Krakow and its green suburbs.
Behind the Italian marble altar hangs a copy of the painting titled Merciful Jesus, the original of which was painted according to Sister Faustine's description and hangs in the chapel.
More than 12,000 faithful — including 1,500 disabled people — are expected to attend the pope's Mass, with thousands more spilling out onto the lawn and fields surrounding the basilica.
The cornerstone for the 13,000-square-meters (140,000 square feet) basilica was laid in September 1999. Construction has cost some 30 million zlotys (dlrs 7.5 million), paid mostly from donations from around the world.
The adjacent chapel holds St. Faustine's relics. Her diary contains mystical experiences recorded during the last four years of her life and is considered by some to be revelations from Jesus entrusted to the nun.
Owing to a bad translation from the Polish suggesting that she herself wanted to be worshipped, the Vatican banned the diaries in the 1950s.
But in the 1960s, as Krakow bishop, Wojtyla, ordered a study of her message. As pope, he lifted the ban in 1978, and beatified Sister Faustine five years later