ERIE — Relics of the renowned 20th century mystic and healer, Saint Pio of Pietrelcina – better known as Padre Pio — will be touring several Archdioceses and Dioceses in the United States of America, between May 6 and May 21, and from Sept. 16to Oct. 1, 2017.
The relics will be on display to the public between liturgical celebrations in the following Archdioceses and Dioceses: May 6, 7, and 8, at Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia; and May 9, at Saint Paul Cathedral in the Diocese of Pittsburgh.
For more information related to each public veneration, please, contact the local Cathedral/Basilica/Church. Additional locations and dates will be communicated at a later time.
The Saint Pio Foundation, which is sponsoring the tour on the occasion of the 130th anniversary of Padre Pio’s birth, and the 15th anniversary of his canonization, will sell books and items related to Padre Pio in the entryway of each Cathedral, Basilica and/or Church.
St. Pio was born on May 25, 1887 in Pietrelcina, Italy, and baptized Francesco Forgione. He first expressed his desire for priesthood at age 10. In order to pay for the preparatory education, his father, Grazio Forgione, emigrated in the United States in 1899, where he worked for several years.
The future saint entered the Capuchin order at age 15, taking the name Pio. He was ordained a priest in 1910 at the age of 23. During his lifetime, Padre Pio was known as a mystic with miraculous powers of healing and knowledge, who bore the stigmata. Stigmata is the term the Catholic Church uses to speak about the wounds an individual receives that correspond to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ. They can appear on the forehead, hands, wrists, and feet.
His stigmata emerged during World War I, after Pope Benedict XV asked Christians to pray for an end to the conflict. Padre Pio had a vision in which Christ pierced his side. A few weeks later, on Sept. 20, 1918, Jesus again appeared to him, and he received the full stigmata. It remained with him until his death on Sept. 23, 1968.
Pope John Paul II canonized him in 2002.
In the Catholic Church, relics are physical objects associated with a saint or candidate for sainthood – part of the person’s body or something with which he or she was in contact. Relics are not worshiped, but treated with religious respect. Touching or praying in the presence of such an object helps a faithful individual focus on the saint’s life and virtues, so that through the saint’s prayer or intercession before God, the individual will be drawn closer to God.
