Padre Pio, Pope Benedict: Soul Mates?

Time ^ | April 25, 2008 | JEFF ISRAELY

[NYer]

In 1947, a young Polish priest named Karol Wojtyla made the pilgrimage to a small town in Puglia to have his confession heard by Padre Pio, the mysterious Italian monk with the Christ-like stigmata wounds on his hands. It was that encounter — along with Wojtyla's belief that a prayer by the Capuchin monk had cured a friend's cancer in 1962 — that helps explain why Padre Pio was fast-tracked for sainthood once Wojtyla had risen to the papacy as John Paul II. But some may now wonder if the current Pope, the cerebral and professorial Benedict XVI, has the same affinity for the popular Italian wonder-worker who died in 1968?

The issue emerges as as tearful pilgrims and television crews flocked this week to the friar-saint's final resting place, San Giovanni Rotondo, a kind of Las Vegas-meets-Bethlehem hilltop pilgrimage destination. They were there to see the exhumed corpse of Padre Pio, which had been put on display in a glass casket, with a special silicon mask — beard, bushy eyebrows and all — created by London-based wax museum artisans. Everyone knows what John Paul II felt about Padre Pio. But how can Benedict, the intellectually rigorous theologian, dubbed "the Pope of Reason," sanction such widespread belief in faith-healing and emotional attachments to icons and relics?

Some may even note a snub of sorts. John Paul visited San Giovanni Rotondo in 1987 to mark 100 years since Padre Pio's birth. But Benedict is making his second papal visit to the Puglia region in June, and has left the town off his itinerary both times

[NYer]

The body of Saint Padre Pio displayed to public in the sanctuary of San Giovanni Rotondo.

[GreyFriar]

ping

[NYer]

I keep wondering why magazine’s don’t retain journalists who are knowledgable in a specific faith to write such articles related to their religion.

[Revelation 911]

http://www.catholic.org/diocese/diocese_story.php?id=21250

side note - this chapel is minutes from my house - the family is of simple means and runs a local italian import shop - real salt of the earth people

[MSF BU]

I doubt there are many devout believers of any religion in the ranks of mainstream journalists. William F Buckley’s death probably reduced the overall number by 10%.

[AnAmericanMother]

This guy is pretty brain dead, even for a Time "journalist".

He simply doesn't understand even Christianity, let alone Catholicism. And odds are despite his name he hasn't a clue about Judaism either.

[Aquinasfan]

But how can Benedict, the intellectually rigorous theologian, dubbed "the Pope of Reason," sanction such widespread belief in faith-healing and emotional attachments to icons and relics?

Uh, because he's Catholic?

I guess this writer knows more about Catholicism than the Pope. Who knew?

[zot]

Thanks for the ping. I still think they should have left his body buried, but the artisans have done a good job restoring his face.

[Coleus]

.