The Vatican (Thursday, 07-15-2015, Gaudium Press) The Holy See has send a letter to the Capuchin Friars of Italy expressing the desire of the Holy Father to transfer the body of St. Pio of Pietrelcina to the Vatican on the occasion of the Year of Mercy. According to the “Corriere del Mezzogiorno”, the incorrupt body of the Capuchin priest will be brought to St. Peter’s Basilica on February 10 next year for Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.
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Although the Vatican has made no official statement on the details of the display it can be assert that the message to the Capuchin Friars is the starting point for the organizational works for the transfer of the remains of the saint to the Vatican. The Pope’s desire with the display of the incorrupt body is to highlight the importance of confession during the Jubilee Year of mercy. In addition, as it is known, Padre Pio was a great confessor and his confessional used to have a long queue of faithful who came to receive God’s forgiveness from the hands of the saint.
Even thou this is the first time that the body of Padre Pio will be transferred to the Vatican, this will not be the first time it will be available for the veneration of the faithful, since his incorrupt body was exposed in his sanctuary,at San Giovanni Rotondo, from the 24th of April 2008 to the 23rd of September 2009. Because of the great number of people who visited his remains at the time – about 9.8 million people – it was decided that from June 1, 2013 his body will remain in permanent display. With his body in St Peter’s Basilica, from February 2016, big number of faithful are expected. (GPE / LMI)
From the Editor’s Desk at Gaudium Press, with information from corrieredelmezzogiorno.corriere.it, papaboys.org and Aleteia
