VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - As three airliners smashed into the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, and Flight 93 crashed into a Pennsylvania field on September 11, 2001, Joaquín Navarro-Valls, at the time the director of the Vatican press office, delivered the news to Pope John Paul II.

St. John Paul II Parish in Lake View received a first class relic of their patron, the 264th pope. The parish held a special Mass to install the relic on May 3. The small drop of blood will be on permanent display in the vigil chapel room for veneration.

In apostolic times, when the Church in Jerusalem was in great distress, St. Paul did not hesitate to ask the Catholics of Corinth to give generously to the relief of their brothers in religion. This bond of human solidarity and Christian brotherhood has been in the Church through the ages. Whenever distress came to our brothers in the faith in one part of the world, those in other parts were always willing to extend to them their helping hand.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - It's been said that saints often come in pairs.

KRAKOW, POLAND - On Sunday, July 24, World Youth Day pilgrims got as close as they could to a full night's sleep before heading out at 8 a.m. to Czestochowa, Poland to visit the Jasna Góra Monastery and shrine.

One of history's greatest examples of the triumph of spiritual power over violence and oppression is vividly recounted in "Liberating a Continent: John Paul II and the Fall of Communism," a new documentary film that poignantly captures the intricate role played by St. John Paul II in the fall of Communism and the liberation of Poland and Eastern Europe. The program will air on WNED-TV on Monday, March 7 at 8 p.m.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - Experts and friends of Pope St. John Paul II responded quickly to a BBC promotion of a documentary about his friendship with Polish-born female philosopher Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka - questioning some of the portrayals of their friendship and outright dismissing others.

As time speeds by, World Youth Day gets closer and closer. The international gathering of Catholic teens and young adults will take place in less than eight months.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - Though it has been more than 10 years since the death of Pope John Paul II, the saint's impact can still be seen in those working to uphold Church teaching at the Synod on the Family, said his former secretary.

WASHINGTON, DC (CNA/EWTN News) - Ahead of next year's World Youth Day in Krakow, the long-time secretary for Pope John Paul II explained how the saint inspired a generation even though many never saw him in person.

VATICAN CITY (CNA/EWTN News) - St. John Paul II's historic embrace of former chief rabbi of Rome Elio Toaff welcomes visitors to a new Vatican exhibition on the late Pope's compelling relationship with the Jewish people.

Bishop Richard J. Malone remembers, and reminds us of, the contributions of St. John Paul II in a new episode of "Consider This." In his encyclical on the environment, "Laudato Si," Pope Francis mentions St. John Paul II's first encyclical, which also emphasized care for the environment.

Members of the diocesan Department of Youth and Young Adult Ministry made a trip to Poland to prepare for World Youth Day 2016 in Kraków.

SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR (CNA/EWTN News) - In his role as Vicar General, Msgr. Ricardo Urioste was one of the closest collaborators of Oscar Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador who was martyred for the faith in 1980 and beatified just this weekend.

ROME, ITALY (CNA/EWTN News) - A once avid outdoors-man whose final years were marked by disability and suffering, St. John Paul II witnessed to what it truly means to die with dignity, says a close friend who was with him until the end.

The eighth Buffalo Mass Mob is set to converge upon St. Casimir Church, Buffalo, this Sunday morning, with a generational chanted Mass set to begin at 10 a.m.

After the canonization of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II this April, many Catholics recognized the contributions these men made to both the Catholic Church and the world in general, and the importance of what it means to be a saint. However, it is not often that many stop to think about what saints truly mean to today's lay people, and how the average American Catholic may use the examples of these individuals, but especially American saints in relatively recent history, in their own lives.

Saints John XXIII and John Paul II prophetically raised their voices on behalf of the suffering masses. They spoke truth to power, and challenged all of us to advance the kingdom of God - a kingdom of love, justice and peace.

As a half million people flooded St. Peter's Square in Rome for the canonization of two popes on the morning of April 27, much smaller celebrations took place in the Diocese of Buffalo. Both St. John Paul Parish in Lake View and Blessed John XXIII Parish in West Seneca carried the spirit of sainthood throughout the weekend.

Blessed John Paul II Parish in Lake View will observe a rare occasion April 27, when its patron is canonized. In honor of the much-loved pope, the parish will celebrate with prayer, music and fireworks.

With Blessed John Paul II's canonization taking place April 27, Father Czeslaw M. Krysa has commemorated the late pope's last visit to Buffalo by designating a room in the rectory of St. Casimir Church as the Papal Prayer Room.