A local Evanston church is displaying clothes worn by the newly canonized St. John Paul II.

A member of St. Athanasius Parish, 1615 Lincoln St., donated the clothes to the church in 2011, said the Rev. Hernan Cuevas.

“It’s a very precious gift and religious object which means a lot,” the St. Athanasius priest said. “It could be a relic. We’ve been having a lot of people come asking to see the vestment, not only from our parish, but from other parishes.”

The garment has been displayed since April, and parishioners are able to see it during weekend masses. Cuevas said he hopes to find a more permanent place for the vestments so that those who wish to see them can do so at any time.

The clothes were worn by St. John Paul II in 1997 when he visited his homeland of Poland, according to a letter of authenticity from a bishop’s office in Poland that was donated with the clothes. Franciscan sisters wove the garment and gave it to him during his visit.

“They (the sisters) did it with a lot of love for him,” Cuevas said. “And he was kind enough to accept it, which shows his acceptance and humility.”

Nancy Taylor, an Evanston resident and a parishioner of St. Athanasius for more than 40 years said the congregation has welcomed the vestments positively.

“People are really honored to have it here,” she said. “We feel we have something very special that belonged to a very special person who had been in our midst and even came here to Chicago at one point during his papacy.”

Cuevas also emphasized the importance of the newly canonized former pope to the Catholic Church.

“It means a lot to me because he was the pope during my lifetime,” Cuevas said. “He was one of the popes who globalized the papacy. He had the courage to go beyond, speak the truth and bear witness to the Gospel.”

The parishioner who donated the clothing wished to remain anonymous but has since moved outside of Evanston, Cuevas said.

St. John Paul II was canonized on April 27 alongside St. John XXIII, the pope who called the reforming Second Vatican Council in 1962.

Taylor said the canonization helped renew interest in the popularity of the clothes, which had been at the church for a couple of years.

“It’s a beautiful piece of cloth,” she said. “It’s been a wonderful addition to the Easter season … and it’s wonderful that it coincided with the fact that the pope has become a saint.”

Cuevas said he wore the garments in the past to celebrate a mass but probably would not do so anymore now that the pope has been canonized.

“It’s more important for the clothes to be displayed,” he said.

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