From America’s Blood Centers

Following his regular Angelus address in Rome on December 5th, Pope John Paul II urged Italians to donate blood so there will be an adequate supply for the onslaught of pilgrims in Rome during the coming Holy Year. "I therefore issue an appeal to all of those who can to donate blood, which is an act of concrete solidarity, " the Pope said.

In his 1984 remarks on "Blood and Organ Donors," Pope John Paul II said: "In giving blood or an organ of your body, may you always have this human and religious perspective: may your gesture be made as an offering to the Lord, who identified himself with those who suffer ... May it be a gift made to the suffering Lord, who in his passion gave himself completely and poured out His blood for the salvation of mankind."