Faithful Gather To View Mystic Italian Saint Padre Pio's Remains

[StColette]

Thursday, April 24, 2008



SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO, Italy —

The body of Padre Pio, a hugely popular 20th century Italian saint, went on public display Thursday in a southern Italian town where thousands gathered to pray.

Padre Pio, who died in 1968 at age 81, was a mystic monk who many Catholic faithful believe bore "stigmata," or wounds like those Jesus suffered at his crucifixion, on his hands and feet. He was made a saint in 2002.

Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, head of the Vatican's sainthood office, lead an open-air Mass for thousands of faithful before the unveiling of the saint's body in a church in San Giovanni Rotondo, where the saint had lived.

"Today, we venerate his body, opening a particularly intense period of pilgrimage," Saraiva Martins said. "This body is here, but Padre Pio is not only a corpse. Looking at his remains we remember all the good that he has made."

Saraiva Martins and other church officials later descended into the church's crypt for a private viewing of the body. State-run broadcaster RAI showed the body in a casket enclosed in crystal, wearing a monk's hooded dark robe.

The officials gathered solemnly around the crypt, and prayed. The faithful, who will be able to file past the body later Thursday, followed the ceremony through maxi TV screens outside.

The Capuchin monk, whose original name was Francesco Forgione, had an enormous following in Italy and abroad. He lived for decades with inexplicable bleeding wounds on his hands and feet.

Church officials exhumed the body so the faithful could pray before it, since this year marks the 40th anniversary of his death. They also wanted to take measures to ensure it was being well preserved.

Since the unearthing in March, the body has been prepared for public viewing in the crypt of the Santa Maria delle Grazie church in San Giovanni Rotondo, a town near the Adriatic in southern Puglia.

Church officials have said there was no sign of the so-called stigmata on his limbs after an initial examination, and that the body was in good condition.

Organizers say they expect 15,000 people to pay their respects to Padre Pio on the first day of the viewing. It is not yet known when the body will be reburied.

Padre Pio had a huge public following in life, as in death, and his beatification and canonization ceremonies drew hundreds of thousands of people to the Vatican.

For decades, though, many in the Vatican were uneasy about his popularity and scorned him, doubting that his wounds were real and that mystical virtues attributed to him were authentic. He was barred for years from saying Mass in public, even as his following grew immensely.

[url="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352408,00.html"]http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352408,00.html[/url]

[knightec]

Padre Pio is my patron saint. I wish I could go.

[CatherineM]

I'll bet that after people go to visit they have an overwhelming desire to run to the confessional.

[Malachi Crunch]

He was truly blessed by God. Everytime a little doubt creeps into my mind, I remind myself of Pio and what an amazing man and mystic he was. He lived a hard life, experienced things that most people could only imagine, was challenged by Satan at every turn, and yet remaind a humble servant his whole life. There is no question in my mind that he becomes cannonzied.

[Brother Vinny]

I'm something of a n00b. Does the absence of stigmata mean anything?

[Madame Vengier]

One of my favorite saints. They say he could read souls in confession and that when he celebrated Mass it was such an intense mystical experience for him that it could go on for hours.

Plus, he was sweet.

[Madame Vengier]

[quote name='Brother Vinny' post='1508904' date='Apr 24 2008, 06:43 PM']I'm something of a n00b. Does the absence of stigmata mean anything?[/quote]

Maybe someone else knows better but it sounds quite normal to me. Since a corpse cannot bleed or have wounds, it would make sense that the stigmata disappeared at his death.

[Mercy me]

The stigmata was taken from him just before his death if I remember correctly.

[CatherineM]

They just said on the news that his face was too decomposed to show, so they had a silicone mask made in his likeness.

[SJRod55]

In 1984 I was in the Indian City of Goa for the exposure of the remains of Saint Francis Xavier. It was a most touching time. There was no one in the church except myself for at least an hour and I was able to see clearly the Saint. I will try most especially to visit Italy later this year to see Padre Pio.

I am not sure I agree with the mask ... I think it is smoetimes better to just allow things to be as they are. As long as the remains are not 'gross' then I think it would be better to let us see the Father as he is. The mask adds a touch of Hollywood, artificiality to the scene. (Just my humble opinion.)

[CatherineM]

I don't agree with the mask either. I think just putting a cloth over his face would be better. People already accuse us of making wax replacements for the saints that were found to be completely uncorrupted. This silicon thing will just give people more ammunition.

[Madame Vengier]

[quote name='CatherineM' post='1509085' date='Apr 24 2008, 08:35 PM']They just said on the news that his face was too decomposed to show, so they had a silicone mask made in his likeness.[/quote]

I saw a color photo in the local paper today. It was of a Franciscan friar taking a picture of the body. Padre Pio's face looked amazingly lifelike. There was no indication that it wasn't his real face--not saying you are wrong, just that if it is a silicone mask they did a great job. He looked really peaceful with a serene expression.

[CatherineM]

When I read that, my first thought was to wonder if they had made a death mask of his face before he was buried, or if someone had sculpted one based on photos or something.

[CatherineM]

I just looked it up, and it was the wax museum guys who made the mask. Here's the link to the story.

[url="http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/263932/36/"]Padre Pio[/url]

[StColette]

[quote name='Brother Vinny' post='1508904' date='Apr 24 2008, 07:43 PM']I'm something of a n00b. Does the absence of stigmata mean anything?[/quote]

Most of the recorded and confirmed cases of stigmata that I am aware of disappeared right before the death of the person. St. Francis of Assisi, for example, had his stigmata disappear before his death as well as many other Saints. The removal of the stigmata does not reflect upon the holiness of the person. Some people have had the stigmata for only a certain period of time and then it disappeared and they continued to lead holy lives. Their length of their suffering of the stigmata is determined by God alone.