Pope John Paul II's Feast Day to be observed Oct. 22

(April 12, 2011) The feast of Blessed John Paul II will be marked Oct. 22 each year in Rome and Poland, according to a decree issued on Monday by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments. The Pontiff’s beatification will take place May 1^st in the Vatican. The decree, which acknowledged the "exceptional character" of the Pontiff's beatification,
and regulates the public liturgical observance, said even though thanksgiving Masses for a beatification usually are limited to places where the person lived or worked, the Vatican has granted permission for local Churches around the world to celebrate a thanksgiving Mass during the year following the Pontiff's beatification. The date for the thanksgiving Mass is to be selected by the diocesan bishop for his diocese, and by the general superior for religious congregations and orders, but it must take place before May 1, 2012.
An Oct. 22 liturgical memorial will be automatically inserted into the liturgical calendars of the Diocese of Rome and the dioceses of Poland. Other local churches and religious families may request permission to do the same. For those churches, where a liturgical memorial is observed, a church may be named after John Paul II, but in other dioceses an indult must be granted by the Vatican. The decree also published the text of the opening prayer to be used in the liturgical memorial and the Masses of thanksgiving in various languages including Latin, English and Polish