| BIOGRAPHY
“Far be it
from me to glory except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal 6:14).
Like the  Apostle Paul, Padre
Pio da Pietrelcina placed at the centre of his life and apostolic work the Cross of his
Lord as his strength, his wisdom and his glory. Inflamed by love of Jesus Christ, he
became like him in the sacrifice of himself for the salvation of the world. In his
following and imitation of the Crucified Christ he was so generous and perfect that he
could have said: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but
Christ who lives in me” (Gal 2:20). And the treasures of grace which God had
granted him so lavishly and unceasingly he passed on through his ministry, serving the men
and women who came to him in ever greater numbers, and bringing to birth an immense host
of spiritual sons and daughters.
This worthy
follower of Saint Francis of Assisi was born on 25 May 1887 at Pietrelcina in the
Archdiocese of Benevento, the son of Grazio Forgione and Maria Giuseppa De Nunzio. He was
baptized the next day and given the name Francesco. At the age of twelve he received the
Sacrament of Confirmation and made his First Holy Communion.
On 6 January 1903,
at the age of sixteen, he entered the novitiate of the Capuchin Friars at Morcone, where
on 22 January he took the Franciscan habit and the name Brother Pio. At the end of his
novitiate year he took simple vows, and on 27 January 1907 made his solemn profession.
After he was
ordained priest on 10 August 1910 at Benevento, he stayed at home with his family until
1916 for health reasons. In September of that year he was sent to the friary of San
Giovanni Rotondo and remained there until his death.
Filled with love of
God and love of neighbour, Padre Pio lived to the full the vocation to work for the
redemption of man, in accordance with the special mission which marked his entire life and
which he exercised through the spiritual direction of the faithful, the sacramental
reconciliation of penitents and the celebration of the Eucharist. The pinnacle of his
apostolic activity was the celebration of Holy Mass. The faithful who took part witnessed
the summit and fullness of his spirituality.
On the level of
social charity, he committed himself to relieving the pain and suffering of many families,
chiefly through the foundation of the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza (House for the Relief
of Suffering), opened on 5 May 1956.
For the Servant of
God, faith was life: he willed everything and did everything in the light of faith. He was
assiduously devoted to prayer. He passed the day and a large part of the night in
conversation with God. He would say: “In books we seek God, in prayer we find him.
Prayer is the key which opens God's heart”. Faith led him always to accept God's
mysterious will.
He was always
immersed in supernatural realities. Not only was he himself a man of hope and total trust
in God, but by word and example he communicated these virtues to all who approached him.
The love of God
filled him, and satisfied his every desire; charity was the chief inspiration of his day:
to love God and to help others to love him. His special concern was to grow in charity and
to lead others to do so.
He demonstrated to
the full his love of neighbour by welcoming, for more than fifty years, countless people
who had recourse to his ministry and his confessional, his counsel and his consolation. He
was almost besieged: they sought him in church, in the sacristy, in the friary. And he
gave himself to everyone, rekindling faith, dispensing grace, bringing light. But
especially in the poor, the suffering and the sick he saw the image of Christ, and he gave
himself particularly to them.
He exercised to an
exemplary degree the virtue of prudence, acting and counselling in the light of God.
His concern was the
glory of God and the good of souls. He treated everyone with justice, frankness and great
respect.
The virtue of
fortitude shone in him. He understood very early in life that his would be the way of the
Cross, and he accepted it at once with courage and out of love. For many years, he
experienced spiritual sufferings. For years he endured the pains of his wounds with
admirable serenity. He accepted in silence the many interventions of his Superiors, and in
the face of calumnies he always remained silent.
He habitually
practised mortification in order to gain the virtue of temperance, in keeping with the
Franciscan style. He was temperate in his attitude and in his way of life.
Conscious of the
commitments which he had undertaken when he entered the consecrated life, he observed with
generosity the vows he had professed. He was obedient in all things to the commands of his
Superiors, even when they were burdensome. His obedience was supernatural in intention,
universal in its scope and complete in its execution. He lived the spirit of poverty with
total detachment from self, from earthly goods, from his own comfort and from honours. He
always had a great love for the virtue of chastity. His behaviour was modest in all
situations and with all people.
He sincerely
thought of himself as useless, unworthy of God's gifts, full of weakness and infirmity,
and at the same time blessed with divine favours. Amid so much admiration around him, he
would say: “I only want to be a poor friar who prays”.
From his youth, his
health was not very robust, and especially in the last years of his life it declined
rapidly. Sister Death took him well prepared and serene on 23 September 1968 at the age of
eighty-one. An extraordinary gathering of people attended his funeral.
On 20 February
1971, barely three years after the death of the Servant of God, Pope Paul VI, speaking to
the Superiors of the Capuchin Order, said of him: “Look what fame he had, what a
worldwide following gathered around him! But why? Perhaps because he was a philosopher?
Because he was wise? Because he had resources at his disposal? Because he said Mass
humbly, heard confessions from dawn to dusk and was – it is not easy to say it –
one who bore the wounds of our Lord. He was a man of prayer and suffering”.
Even during his
lifetime, he enjoyed a vast reputation for sanctity, because of his virtues, his spirit of
prayer, sacrifice and total dedication to the good of souls.
In the years
following his death, his reputation for sanctity and miracles grew steadily, and became
established in the Church, all over the world and among all kinds of people.
God thus showed the
Church his desire to glorify on earth his faithful servant. In a short time the Capuchin
Order took the steps prescribed by canon law to begin the Cause of Beatification and
Canonization. After examining the case, the Holy See, in accordance with the norm of the Motu
Proprio “Sanctitas Clarior”, granted the nihil obstat on 29 November
1982. The Archbishop of Manfredonia was thus enabled to introduce the Cause and set up the
informative process (1983- 1990). On 7 December 1990, the Congregation for the Causes of
Saints recognized its juridical validity. When the Positio had been completed,
there was the usual discussion on whether the Servant of God had exercised the virtues to
a heroic degree. On 13 June 1997 the Special Meeting of the Theological Consultors was
held and gave a positive judgement. In the Ordinary Session on 21 October 1997, with
Bishop Andrea Maria Erba of Velletri-Segni, the Proposer of the Cause, together with the
Cardinals and Bishops, recognized that Padre Pio da Pietrelcina had lived to a heroic
degree the theological, cardinal and associated virtues.
On 18 December
1997, in the presence of Pope John Paul II, the Decree on heroic virtue was promulgated.
For the
Beatification of Padre Pio, the Postulation presented to the competent Congregation the
healing of Signora Consiglia De Martino of Salerno. The regular canonical process
concerning this case was held at the Ecclesiastical Tribunal of the Archdiocese of
Salerno-Campagna-Acerno from July 1996 to June 1997 and the case was recognized as valid
by a decree dated 26 September 1997. On 30 April 1998 at the Congregation for the Causes
of Saints the Medical Board examined the miracle, and on 22 June 1998 the Special Meeting
of Theological Consultors gave its judgment. On 20 October 1998 the Ordinary Congregation
of the Cardinals and Bishops belonging to the Congregation, together with the Proposer,
Bishop Andrea M. Erba, was held in the Vatican. On 21 December 1998 in the presence of
Pope John Paul II the Decree on the miracle was promulgated.
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