VATICAN CITY, APR 30, 1999 (VIS) - On Sunday May 2, in St. Peter's Square, Pope John Paul II will beatify Capuchin Friar Pio of Pietrelcina, known the world over as Padre Pio, who died at the Franciscan friary in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, on September 23, 1968, at the age of 81.
After Sunday's beatification, the penultimate step to sainthood, he will be known as Blessed Padre Pio.
He was born on May 25, 1887 in Pietrelcina, in the southern Italian archdiocese of Benevento in the region of Campania, to Grazio Forgione and Maria Giuseppa De Nunzio. Devoted to St. Francis of Assisi, his parents had him baptized the following day, and named him Francesco.
The son of peasant farmers, Francesco grew up in humble surroundings, in a home filled with love and faith. His youth and adolescence were marked by liveliness, curiosity, and, according to biographers, occasional mischievousness. They also point out that he seemed to have a "special spiritual life."
Francesco received both First Communion and Confirmation when he was 12.
On January 6, 1903, age 16, he entered the novitiate of the Capuchin Friars Minor at Morcone and, 16 days later, was clothed in the Franciscan habit and given the name Brother Pio. He concluded the novitiate year, made his profession of simple vows and, on January 27, 1907, made his solemn profession.
Brother Pio was ordained to the priesthood on August 10, 1910 at Benevento. For health reasons he lived at his home until 1916, when he was transferred to the friary of Santa Maria delle Grazie at San Giovanni Rotondo where he remained until his death in 1968, and where he is buried.
In the more than half century that he was a Capuchin, Padre Pio became famous, first in Puglia at San Giovanni Rotondo, then throughout Italy and the world, for his charisms of bearing the stigmata and of bilocation (the ability to be simultaneously in two different places) and for the extraordinary holiness of his life, which centered on the Mass, the Sacrament of Penance and spiritual direction. Padre Pio was noted for the remarkable number of hours he spent in the confessional and for his charity, motivating him to found the "House for the Relief of Suffering," inaugurated on May 5, 1956. He also instituted prayer groups, which he called "seedbeds of faith and centers of love," and which Pope Paul VI termed "vast rivers of praying humanity."
In an address to the superiors of the Capuchin Order in 1971, three years after the death of Padre Pio, Pope Paul VI said of him: "Look at his fame, at the worldwide following he has gathered around him! Why? Perhaps because he was a philosopher? Perhaps because he was a scholar? Because he had means at his disposition? No, because he celebrated Mass humbly, confessed people from morning to night and was, difficult to say, one who was marked by the stigmata of Our Lord. He was a man of prayer and suffering."
Padre Pio first received the stigmata in 1910 for a short period: they disappeared, only to reappear in 1918 and remain with him until very shortly before his death. The word "stigmata" denotes the scars that correspond to the wounds suffered by Our Lord during His Passion and Crucifixion, in His hands, feet and side.
When the stigmata appeared on September 20, 1918, Padre Pio had celebrated morning Mass and, as usual, remained in the chapel to pray. What happened next was revealed by Padre Pio in a letter to his confessor:
"I was sitting in the choir stall, giving thanks for the Holy Mass when I started feeling languid and began to nod off. All my senses experienced an incredible peace, While I was in that state, a mysterious celestial figure appeared before me. He was holding a utensil somewhat similar to a cut-throat razor with a very sharp point from which fire seemed to flow. The sight of it petrified me. The figure hurled this tool into my soul with all his strength. I cannot describe the sensation.
"I felt as though I were dying, and indeed I would have died if Our Lord had not intervened to sustain my pounding heart. When the mysterious figure left, I realized that my hands, feet and side had been pierced and were flowing with blood. You can imagine the torment I felt and continue to feel every day. The wound in my side pumps out blood constantly, especially from Thursday evening until Saturday. I fear that I am going to die from loss of blood."
A number of miracles, including several in the presence of witnesses, have been attributed to the intercession of Padre Pio. One in particular, put forth by the Postulator of his cause at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, regards the miraculous healing of an Italian woman, a devoted follower of his and a member of one of his Prayer Groups, who had become gravely ill and was inexplicably healed after praying, together with relatives and friends, at Padre Pio's tomb.
A biographical note from the Postulator General of Padre Pio's cause states: "While he was alive he was widely famous for his holiness, due to his virtues, his spirit of prayer, sacrifice and total dedication to the good of souls. In the years following his death, the fame of his holiness and miracles continued to grow, becoming an ecclesial phenomenon throughout the world and touching every type of person. Thus God showed the Church His will to glorify on earth his faithful servant."
The Order of Capuchin Friars Minor took the first steps for the cause for beatification and canonization in conformity with the Code of Canon Law. The recognition process took place from 1983 to 1990 in the diocese of Manfredonia. On December 18, 1997 the Decree on the heroic virtues of Padre Pio was promulgated. On December 21, 1998 the Decree on the miracle attributed to Padre Pio's intercession was promulgated.
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