TIJUANA – The relics of John Paul II are coming to the border region in November as part of a four-month tour of Mexico.

The items include a wax figure of the pope wearing the vestments John Paul II wore during one of his seven visits to Mexico, said Mónico Margarito Hernández, a spokesman for the Diocese of Tijuana, in an interview Wednesday. The cassock and other clothing were made for the pope by Mexican artisans, he noted.

The wax figure will be carrying a crucifix and a vial of the pope's blood "that was taken when he was still alive and in agony," Hernández said.

The relics are to be in Tijuana on Nov. 13 to 15, and will be initially displayed at the Cathedral downtown. Before then, they will be in Mexicali and Ensenada and afterward will travel to Chihuahua as part of a tour of nearly 100 churches across the country.

Mexico was special to John Paul II. It was the first country he visited after becoming pope, and it was the third most visited country by the pontiff, behind his native Poland and France.

The "Traveling Pope" died in 2005 at the age 84. In May, he was beatified, the first step to being named a saint.

The relics, being escorted by personnel from Vatican, will be displayed for free.

Hernández said that 2.5 million Catholics make their home in the Tijuana area, according to the annual census the diocese sends to the Vatican.

The pope's relics arrived last Thursday in Mexico City. They were displayed at Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe until last Sunday. The tour is to end in December.

Before the relics arrive, Tijuana will host the Eucharistic National Congress on Oct. 5 to 9, a gathering of high-level Catholic Church leaders from the Vatican and Latin America.

Andrea.garcia@gmail.com