Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

Life events

1. Born — 1887

   Francesco Forgione was born on 25 May 1887 in Pietrelcina, a small town in the province of Benevento in the southern Italian region of Campania, to peasant farmers Grazio Mario Forgione and Maria Giuseppa Di Nunzio. He was baptised the same day at the nearby Santa Anna Chapel.

2. Tonsured — 1903

   On 6 January 1903, at age 15, Francesco Forgione entered the novitiate of the Capuchin friars at Morcone. On 22 January he took the Franciscan habit and the name Fra Pio (Friar Pius), in honour of Pope Pius I, making simple vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

3. Ordained — 1910

   In August 1910 Padre Pio was ordained a priest by Archbishop Paolo Schinosi at the Cathedral of Benevento. Four days after his ordination he celebrated his first Mass at the parish church of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Pietrelcina.

4. Other — 1918

   On 20 September 1918, while hearing confessions at the Capuchin friary in San Giovanni Rotondo, Padre Pio reportedly received the permanent, visible stigmata — wounds on his hands, feet, and side — which he bore continuously for the remaining fifty years of his life. The Vatican conducted multiple formal investigations into the phenomenon.

5. Imprisoned

   From 1921 to 1922 the Vatican prevented Padre Pio from publicly performing priestly duties including hearing confessions and saying Mass. Between 1923 and 1931 the Holy See issued statements denying supernatural origin for events in his life, and he was effectively confined to the cloister of his friary. In 1933 Pope Pius XI reversed the ban, admitting he had been 'badly informed'.

6. Other — 1956

   The Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza (Home for the Relief of Suffering) hospital, which Padre Pio had championed since the 1920s, opened near San Giovanni Rotondo in 1956. Construction began in 1947, funded in part by donations coordinated by Emanuele Brunatto and a contribution of 250 million Italian lire from UNRRA. Pope Pius XII granted Padre Pio a dispensation from his vow of poverty in 1957 so he could supervise the project.

7. Died — 1968

   Padre Pio died in his cell at San Giovanni Rotondo in the early hours of 23 September 1968, aged 81. On 22 September he had celebrated a solemn Mass marking the fiftieth anniversary of his stigmata before a large crowd; early the following morning he made his last confession, renewed his Franciscan vows, and died holding his rosary. His stigmata had disappeared in the days before his death, leaving no scars.

8. Other — 2002

   Pope John Paul II canonised Padre Pio on 16 June 2002 at St. Peter's Square in Rome, with an estimated 300,000 people attending. John Paul II had previously beatified him on 2 May 1999, also at St. Peter's Square. The canonisation process had opened in 1982 and Padre Pio was declared venerable in 1997.

Relationships

Documented claims

• Padre Pio's stigmata lasted approximately fifty years, from September 1918 until his death in 1968. When examined at death, the wounds had completely healed without leaving any trace or scar — a detail noted by the attending physician. (likely)
• In 1947 the 27-year-old Karol Józef Wojtyła, later Pope John Paul II, visited Padre Pio at San Giovanni Rotondo for confession. Wojtyła returned in 1974 as a cardinal and again as pope in May 1987 for the centenary of Padre Pio's birth. (likely)
• Padre Pio's most-quoted spiritual counsel was the Italian phrase 'Prega, spera e non preoccuparti' — 'Pray, hope, and don't worry' — which he used to summarise his practical theology of trust in divine providence. (likely)
• In religious art and devotional iconography, Padre Pio is consistently depicted in his brown Capuchin habit with gloves or coverings on his hands, reflecting his practice during life of wearing red mittens or black coverings over his stigmata, which he described as a source of personal embarrassment. (likely)
• Padre Pio founded a global network of lay prayer groups beginning in the 1950s. By the time of his death in 1968 there were approximately 700 groups with 68,000 members in 15 countries; by 2013 the network had grown to roughly 3,300 registered groups in 60 countries, with about three million members. (likely)