A portrait of John Paul II, composed of 105,000 photographs sent in by people from Poland and abroad, will be unveiled before Sunday’s beatification ceremony at the Temple of Divine Providence in the Warsaw district of Wilanów.

The portrait is a singular reproduction of the one to be mounted in the Vatican on the same day.

Measuring 55 metres by 26 metres, and at a weight of 600 kg it is the biggest beatification portrait in history, and has been printed using resilient latex inks on a special perforated wind-proof banner.

The photograph used for the portrait, showing Pope John Paul II in a red cloak, was taken in 1989 by Grzegorz Gałązka, during a visit to parish in Rome.

The portrait will hang in Warsaw until October 16, the date when Karol Wojtyła was elected to the Holy See.

Celebrations on Sunday, May 1, are to start in Wilanów with a Holy Mass at 9 am, then the beatification ceremony will be shown live from the Vatican on a giant screen. Giant screens are also to be set up in Piłsudski Square in central Warsaw, where a noontime Mass is to follow the beatification.

Also, at around 12.30, a pope-mobile from 1979 decorated with white and yellow flowers will move slowly through Warsaw, on a route towards the Temple at Wilanów, where a fete is being organized hosted by actors dressed as Vatican guards.

The Museum there dedicated to John Paul II and Primate Stefan Wyszyński has announced that it will be holding a collection of mementoes of the Polish Pope. (ek)