A vial of liquefied blood drawn from Pope John Paul II during his final days in 2005 is headed to south Louisiana this September, giving Catholics across the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux a rare chance to venerate what is considered one of the highest forms of relic in the Church. The pilgrim relic will make stops at five parishes between September 18 and September 21, offering public veneration hours, private viewings, and special Masses tied to its visit.
The relic is one of just four such pilgrim relics in existence worldwide, according to WBRZ. Its blood was drawn from the pope at Rome's Gemelli Polyclinic in early 2005 during his final illness, preserved with an anticoagulant in case doctors needed to give him a transfusion, a procedure that ultimately never happened, according to The Catholic Spirit. He died at the Vatican on April 2, 2005, after leading the Catholic Church since October 1978.
Under Roman Catholic canon law, blood drawn directly from a saint's body qualifies as a first-class relic, the highest classification in Catholic veneration, distinguishing it from secondary relics like clothing or tertiary relics that have simply touched a saint's belongings, per the Diocese of Rapid City. Pope John Paul II was canonized by Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square on April 27, 2014, after the Vatican verified miracles attributed to his intercession.
A Reliquary Shaped Like the Gospel Book From His Funeral
The relic travels in a gold-plated reliquary custom-designed in the shape of an open Book of the Gospels, echoing the Gospel book placed atop John Paul II's casket during his funeral Mass in St. Peter's Square in April 2005, according to the Archdiocese of Miami. The tour across the Americas is coordinated by the Servants of the Pierced Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a Miami-based religious order founded in 1990 by Mother Adela Galindo that began bringing the relic on international pilgrimages in 2013.
Preserved liquefied blood relics are exceedingly rare within Catholic tradition. The best-known historical parallel is the 4th-century martyr St. Januarius of Naples, whose coagulated blood ampoules are said to periodically liquefy during public ceremonies, according to Catholic News Agency.
Five Parishes, Four Days of Veneration
The relic's Louisiana visit begins September 18 at Holy Cross Church in Morgan City, where public veneration runs from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. followed by a 5:30 p.m. Holy Mass. September 19 is set aside for only private viewings, without public hours.
On September 20, the relic moves to the Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales in Houma for veneration from noon to 4 p.m., where Bishop Simon Peter Engurait will celebrate Holy Mass with the relic at 11 a.m. That evening, the relic travels to Our Lady of the Rosary in Larose for veneration from 6 to 9 p.m., with a 5 p.m. Mass at that parish as well.
The tour concludes September 21 in Thibodaux with two stops: Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church will host veneration from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. alongside a 7:30 a.m. Mass, and St. Joseph Co-Cathedral will hold veneration from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., closing with a 5:30 p.m. Mass marking the end of the relic's visit.
A Bishop's First Chance to Host the Relic
Bishop Engurait, a Ugandan-born prelate appointed by the Vatican in June 2025, was ordained as the sixth bishop of Houma-Thibodaux in September 2025 and is recognized as the first African-born U.S. Catholic bishop, according to the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux. His celebration of the Sunday Mass with the relic in Houma marks a significant moment early in his tenure leading the diocese.
Catholic tradition allows those attending public veneration hours to bring personal religious items, such as rosaries or scapulars, and touch them directly to the reliquary, transforming those items into third-class relics, per Christendom College. Parishioners planning to attend the Houma-Thibodaux stops are expected to follow that same custom during the scheduled viewing windows.
A Local Link to the Only Papal Visit to Louisiana
One of the host churches, Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church in Thibodaux, carries its own connection to the late pope. The parish was named for the 1983 Holy Year of Redemption that John Paul II declared, and it embeds a memorial brick from St. Peter's Basilica's Holy Door into its sanctuary structure, according to the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux.
The relic's arrival also recalls John Paul II's only visit to Louisiana, a three-day stop in New Orleans during a 10-day U.S. papal tour in September 1987. He addressed young people at the Superdome and visited Xavier University of Louisiana during that trip, as reported by The Tablet, giving south Louisiana Catholics a personal tie to the pope nearly four decades before his blood relic returns to the state.
