Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

Padre Pio of Pietrelcina (1887 – 1968)

Padre Pio is undoubtedly one of the most beloved and revered spiritual figures of the twentieth century and perhaps in the history of the Catholic Church. Known primarily for bearing the stigmata, the five bodily wounds of Christ, as well as other phenomena such as bilocation, levitation, and the reading of souls, Padre Pio has come under as much scrutiny and criticism as veneration. What is most overlooked, however, is that Padre Pio’s life of heroic sanctity does not rest in his spiritual phenomena. Still, the fact he lived a life dedicated to his priestly life and the care of the thousands of souls who sought him out for confession and advice.

Francesco Forgione was born in Pietrelcina in the southern Italian region of Campania in 1887. Before he was a teen, Francesco knew he was called to give his life to God and entered the Capuchins (a branch of the Franciscans) in 1903 and took the name of Pio. Early in his novitiate, he was graced with ecstasies, visions, locutions, and even levitations and was ordained a priest in 1910. After serving in World War I, Pio was stationed at the friary of San Giovanni Rotondo, where he spent the rest of his life.

While hearing confessions in 1918, Pio experienced the first appearance of the stigmata, which set off tremendous publicity, scrutiny, and harsh criticism from Church officials. Fearing anticlerical backlash with medieval leftovers like stigmatas and levitations, Church officials condemned Pio and forbade him to hear confessions say Mass, and publicly appear with his bloodied hands. It was Pope Pius XI who began to lift sanctions against Pio in the 1930s, declaring, “I am no ill-disposed to Padre Pio, I have just been ill-informed about him.”

Padre Pio’s fame spread beyond Italy to people worldwide, and hundreds of thousands flocked to southern Italy to glimpse and possibly go to confession to this humble peasant priest. He was able to understand them and advise them even though he spoke a rough peasant dialect. Padre Pio died in 1968 and was beatified in 1999 by Pope John Paul II, who as a young priest went to confession to the friar, and who would canonize Pio a saint in 2002.

The Padre Pio of Pietrelcina tile was created in 2022. Our 12" X 12" signed and numbered reproduction is created on stretch canvas and is suitable for matting and framing.