 On 17 November 1991, he was canonized when, in St. Peter's Basilica, Pope John Paul II declared his boyhood hero a saint.Rafał was the first friar in the Order of the Discalced Carmelites to have been canonized since co-founder John of the Cross (1542–1591) became a saint in 1726.Kalinowski's feast day is celebrated on 19 November in the Discalced Carmelites order and on 20 November by the Catholic Church in Poland.