Brazilian church first to be named after John Paul II

A small church in the Brazilian city of Salvador de Bahia became the first to take the name of John Paul II today after the late pontiff's canonisation at the Vatican.

A spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Salvador in northeast Brazil's Bahia State said the Church of Notre Dame dos Alagados would now be known as the Church of Notre dos Alagados and Saint John Paul II.

Spokeswoman Sara Gomes said the name change had been signed by the Archbishop of Salvador Murilo Krieger following today's mass.

Notre Dame dos Alagados was inaugurated by Pope John Paul II in 1980 during the first of three visits to Brazil.
 

Pope Francis proclaimed John Paul II and John XXIII as the Catholic Church's newest saints at a ceremony attended by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims earlier today.