Every year millions of visitors visit the shrine of

Padre Pio.  This shrine can accommodate 6,500 people and some 30,000 can

stand outside on the courtyard.  This shrine is located in San Giovanni Rotondo.

Saint Padre Pio is one of the most important figures in the Catholic world. It

is said that Padre Pio has miraculous and supernatural powers. There are many

incidents which bear witness to his abilities.

 

Padre Pio was originally known as Francesco Forgione. 

He was part of a religious Catholic family and was taken to the friary in 1903.

After staying in the friary for one year, he took the Capuchin habit and was

named Pio. After being ordained as a priest, he visited many sites and in the

year 1916 he came to San Giovanni, Rotondo. He stayed there for 52 years.

Known for his love of Christ and eternal devotion to God, Padre Pio was popular

among the locals. It is said that during his stay he experienced a number of

supernatural abilities and witnessed miraculous events. Stigmata is considered

as Padre Pio's most famous gift. It was the in the year 1918 when this amazing

event happened.

 

It is said that it was in the year 1918 that he received

the gift. He was praying before the crucifix. He bled from five different wounds

for the rest of his life. All the five wounds are connected to the wounds of

Christ. As a devout Catholic he was always in war against the evil and it is

believed that he was directly in war with the Devil. As a result he experienced

several cuts and bruises. Padre Pio was happy to help anyone who was in

trouble, but mostly helped those whose souls are known to be in the purgatory.

In the year 1940 Padre Pio started formulating ideas about building a hospital

in the area.

 

He wanted the hospital to be named as Casa Sollievo della

Sofferenza which translates to Home for the Relief of Suffering. Padre Pio

saw the opening of the hospital in 1956. Today this hospital is counted among

the most efficient hospitals of Europe. In the year 1962 Bishop Karol Wajtyla

who later came to be known as Pope John Paul II asked Padre Pio to pray for

God's blessings for Dr. Wanda Poltawska who was suffering from cancer. Later it

was known that the cancerous growth in the body has regressed. No one, not even

the medical faculty could explain this miraculous change.

 

Although many speak of his miraculous powers, many remain

skeptical questioning his work and ideologies. It was in the year 1999 that Pope

John Paul II declared that Padre Pio was ?blessed?. He became a saint in

2002. An estimated half a million people attended the declaration ceremony. In

2008 Padre Pio's body was kept near the tomb marking his 40^th death

anniversary. Although portions of the body suffered from exhumation, there were

portions which remained intact. The body was repaired and was kept for display

for the visitors. The shrine which is built around the tomb of Padre Pio is

known as Church of Our Lady of Grace.

 

In this shrine the visitors can see a number of things

associated with Padre Pio. One can see the cell, the crucifix and almost

everything that he used or touched during his lifetime. This church was designed

by Renzo Piano, a Genoan architect. The shrine has a Way of the Cross which is

part of the forested hilly area behind the shrine.  You will find a good number

of hotels in San Giovanni Rotondo which can accommodate thousands of

visitors every year. If you want to know about the various hotels in the area,

you can browse through

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