Father Marcin Zahuta, former Pastor at St. Thomas More and a native of Poland, began petitioning for a First-Class Relic in 2014, shortly after St. John Paul II was canonized. Fr. Zahuta made direct contact with Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, former personal secretary of St. Pope John Paul II and retired Archbishop of Krakow, Poland. He requested the relic specifically be conferred to the St. Thomas More parish to honor and advance St. Pope John Paul II’s dedication to youth, with the University of South Carolina being a pivotal place to engage and evangelize today’s young people. [As Pope, John Paul II visited the University of South Carolina on September 11, 1987 as part of an ecumenical conference being held on campus.]
The relic was bestowed in 2016 and Fr. Zahuta personally accompanied it from Poland to South Carolina.
The relic will be on permanent display for veneration at St. Thomas More Chapel.
“It is wonderful to be young. It is wonderful to be young and to be a student of the university. It is wonderful to be young and to be a student at the University of
South Carolina.”
-Pope St. John Paul II