Relics Of St. Padre Pio To Be In Chicago, St. Louis

Relics of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina – better known as Padre Pio – will tour several Archdioceses and Dioceses in the U.S. for the second time from Sept. 16 through Oct. 8. The relics will make stops in the Archdiocese of Chicago on Sept. 25-26 and in the Archdiocese of St. Louis on Sept. 27-28.

Several relics of Saint Pio will be on display and available for public veneration in the following Archdioceses and Dioceses:

• Sept 16 – St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y.
• Sept 17-18 – St. Patrick Cathedral in the Archdiocese of New York.
• Sept. 20 – Cathedral St. Joseph the Workman in the Diocese of La Crosse, Wis.
• Sept. 21 – Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, Wis.
• Sept. 22-23 – Basilica of St. John the Evangelist in the Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn.
• Sept 24 – St. Theresa Catholic Church in the Diocese of Bridgeport, Conn.
• Sept 25 –  St. Francis Borgia Church in the Archdiocese of Chicago
• Sept. 26 – St. Ita Church in the Archdiocese of Chicago
• Sept 27 – Assumption Parish (Mattese) in the Archdiocese of St. Louis
• Sept. 28 – St. Michael the Archangel Church in the Archdiocese of St. Louis
• Sept. 29 – Cathedral of Mary of the Assumption in the Diocese of Saginaw, Mich.
• Oct. 1 – St. Thomas Church in the Diocese of Providence, R.I.
• Oct. 3 – Holy Spirit Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Atlanta
• Oct. 4 – St. Rita's Church in the Archdiocese of New Orleans
• Oct. 6 – Blessed Trinity Catholic Church in the Diocese of St. Augustine, Fla.

For more information related public venerations, please contact the local Cathedral/Basilica/Church. For additional information, please visit http://www.saintpiofoundation.org/event/saint-padre-pio-comes-to-america-2/

The Saint Pio Foundation, which is sponsoring the tour on the occasion of the 130^th anniversary of Padre Pio's  birth  and the 15^th anniversary of his canonization, will sell books and religious items related to Padre Pio in the entryway of each Cathedral, Basilica, or Church.

St. Pio was born on May 25, 1887, in Pietrelcina, Italy, and baptized Francesco Forgione.  He first expressed his desire for priesthood at age 10. In order to pay for the preparatory education, his father, Grazio Forgione, emigrated in the United States on 1899, where he worked for several years.

The future saint entered the Capuchin order at age 15, taking the name Pio. He was ordained a priest in 1910 at the age of 23. During his lifetime, Padre Pio was known as a mystic with miraculous powers of healing and knowledge, who bore the stigmata.  Stigmata is the term the Catholic Church uses to speak about the wounds an individual receives that correspond to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ.  They can appear on the forehead, hands, wrists, and feet.

His stigmata emerged during World War I, after Pope Benedict XV asked Christians to pray for an end to the conflict. Padre Pio had a vision in which Christ pierced his side. A few weeks later, on September 20, 1918, Jesus again appeared to him, and he received the full stigmata. It remained with him until his death on Sept. 23, 1968. Pope John Paul II canonized him in 2002.