During the Church’s millennium celebration Pope John Paul II declared that the Second Sunday of Easter be known as “Divine Mercy Sunday” throughout the Catholic Church. He has written an encyclical laying out the doctrinal and scriptural foundations of understanding mercy. This Polish pope looked to a holy woman of Poland, Faustina Kowalska for inspiration. He canonized St. Faustina at that same Mass in 2000 that he instituted the observation of Divine Mercy Sunday.