{"id":792,"date":"2011-04-14T23:42:09","date_gmt":"2011-04-14T23:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/157.230.63.74\/?page_id=792"},"modified":"2011-05-31T16:40:56","modified_gmt":"2011-05-31T16:40:56","slug":"exhumation-of-padre-pio","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.pppg.org\/?page_id=792","title":{"rendered":"Exhumation of Padre Pio"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n
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Padre Pio Prayer Groups<\/h3>\n

National Office<\/h4>\n

St. Francis Renewal Center
\n1901 Prior Road
\nWilmington, Delaware 19809<\/h5>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Phone
\n302\/798-1454<\/td>\n		Fax
\n302\/798-3360<\/td>\n		Website
\nwww.PPPG.org<\/td>\n		E-Mail
\nPPPGUSA@gmail.com<\/a>
\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Re: Exhumation of Padre Pio<\/strong><\/td>\nMarch 2008<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
A number of phone calls have arrived asking me about the exhuming of the body of Padre Pio. This procedure is a practice of the Church concerning the mortal remains of the Church\u2019s children who have died in the odor of sanctity. The following article taken from iZENIT<\/span> (a news agency specializing in coverage of the Holy Father, life in the Holy See, and events of interest to the Church \u2013 website: www.zenit.org<\/a>) will hopefully answer some questions.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
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ST. PADRE PIO’S BODY EXHUMED<\/h2>\n

Will Be Displayed for Veneration in April<\/h3>\n

SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO, Italy, MARCH 5, 2008 (Zenit.org).- The body of St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina has been exhumed and will be ready for public veneration beginning in April, according to the Vatican delegate who oversees the shrine of the saint. \tArchbishop Domenico Umberto D\u2019Ambrosio of Manfredonia-Vieste-San Giovanni Rotondo announced Jan. 6 that the Vatican Congregation for Saints’ Causes authorized the exhumation of the Capuchin friar’s body to verify the condition of his mortal remains, and to ensure its future preservation. \tThe work to exhume the saint’s corpse began Sunday night when his tomb was opened. Archbishop D\u2019Ambrosio himself presided over the three-hour liturgy that ended after midnight. A large crowd spontaneously gathered to attend the liturgy. \tFrancesco Forgione, a native of Pietrelcina, Italy, was born in 1887. Later known as Padre Pio, the famed confessor and preacher was widely recognized to have had the stigmata — the wounds of Christ’s crucifixion — on his hands and feet. Pope John Paul II beatified him in 1999 and canonized him in 2002. \t\u201cWe have found the mortal remains of St. Pio in fairly good conditions, conditions that could have been worse,” Archbishop D\u2019Ambrosio told Vatican Radio. \u201cThe fact that the plaster around the grave where the casket was placed was only completed a day before the burial and had not yet dried probably had a negative affect on the preservation. This also created heavy humidity, which we also found in the casket. \t\u201cNevertheless, in spite of all of this, we can say that the upper portion, we refer to the face, is partially skeletal, as well as the upper limbs. Though the rest is very visible, the hands are very clear. The technicians have said that a sort of auto-mummification process has begun in some parts of the body.\u201d \tIn addition, Archbishop D\u2019Ambrosio confirmed in a communiqu\u00e9 Monday that \u201cthe stigmata are not visible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conservation<\/h3>\n

The body of the Capuchin friar will be conserved and put in a part-glass coffin in the crypt of the old Church of St. Mary of Grace in San Giovanni Rotondo, where his remains had been kept for 40 years, and be available to the faithful for veneration for at least several months beginning April 24. \tThe exhumation and public display of the saint’s body coincides with the 40th anniversary of his death, which occurred Sept. 23, 1968. The process also takes place 90 years after the friar received the stigmata; the Capuchins report that happened Sept. 20, 1918. \tArchbishop D\u2019Ambrosio explained to Vatican Radio that the exhumation of the body \u201cis a well-established practice, dating back in the history of the Church more than 1,000 years [\u2026] for the bodies of saints and of those who are close to beatification and canonization.\u201d \tThe reason for doing this, he said, is to \u201crespond to certain historic responsibility to guarantee a prolonged preservation of saint\u2019s bodies, using appropriate methods, in order to allow future generations to also have the chance to venerate and care for these relics.\u201d \tThe archbishop affirmed that appropriate methods will be used to guarantee the preservation of St. Pio of Pietrelcina\u2019s body in the best conditions, and that process, which involves a sort of “embalming\u201d, will take 30-40 days.<\/p>\n

Moment of emotion<\/h3>\n

During the liturgy Sunday, Father Aldo Broccato, the provincial minister of the Capuchin Province of “Sant\u2019Angelo e Padre Pio,” explained that exhumation and canonical recognition express \u201cfirst of all the deep human emotions that our province has always held for this illustrious son of ours, who loved the province so much and for which he offered and suffered so much.\u201d \t\u201cThis event shows even more clearly the sign of our faith in the communion of saints, in the resurrection of the body and in life everlasting,\u201d he added. \t\u201cIn fact,” said Fr. Broccato, “as we now see his mortal remains, my dear faithful and brothers, even though they are precious and dear to our human hearts, they should move us to raise our eyes to heaven, to the light of the life of God, which in Christ shows itself in his death and resurrection.\u201d \tTo make reservations to venerate the remains of St. Pio, the faithful can call +39 08 82 417 500. Additional information is also available on the Web site www.TeleRadioPadrePio.it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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With every best wish for all of you, I pray that God bless you: Our Lady guide, guard, and protect you; and Padre Pio look over each one of you, his spiritual children, with loving care. May the joy of this Easter Season help you to \u2018see\u2019 beyond whatever crosses life may offer you. We are all victors in the Victim, Whose Resurrection proclaims the Father\u2019s eternal love and Whose Spirit, emanating from the victory of the Cross, fill your lives with Peace and Joy.
\nPeace and Blessings
\nFr. Francis A. Sariego, O.F.M. Cap.
\nNational Coordinator<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Padre Pio Prayer Groups National Office St. Francis Renewal Center 1901 Prior Road Wilmington, Delaware 19809 Phone 302\/798-1454 Fax 302\/798-3360 Website www.PPPG.org E-Mail PPPGUSA@gmail.com Re: Exhumation of Padre Pio March 2008 A number of phone calls have arrived asking me about the exhuming of the body of Padre Pio. This procedure is a practice of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":763,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page_full.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-792","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pppg.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pppg.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pppg.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pppg.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pppg.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=792"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.pppg.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":795,"href":"https:\/\/www.pppg.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/792\/revisions\/795"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pppg.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pppg.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}