Polish Dominican asks Gemelli for recording of Pope’s heartbeat

A Polish Dominican monk has asked the Rome clinic that treated John Paul II to give him recordings of the late pope’s heartbeat, which he hopes to play to ardent Catholics at Christmas midnight mass.

"For years, our hearts beat for him. Today, we want to symbolically listen to his heart," Brother Jan Gora was quoted by the Glos Wielkopolski daily as saying.

"We have taken the first steps" to obtaining recordings of the heartbeat of John Paul II, who died on April 2 in his private apartment at the Vatican, after being hospitalised at the Gemelli Clinic, he said.

If Brother Gora obtains the recording, the late Polish-born pope’s heartbeat will be played back during the Agnus Dei at midnight mass in Lednica, in southwestern Poland.

Gentle reminder: It is the Word Made Flesh in Jesus that Christmas celebrates.