Padre Pio display in Rome in February 2016

Pope Francis wished that the body of Padre Pio be displayed, by way of exception, in Saint Peter’s Basilica from February 5 to 11, 2016, on the occasion of the Jubilee of Mercy. For the first time, the relics of Padre Pio of Pietrelcina (May 25, 1887 - September 23, 1968), his baptismal name Francesco Forgione, will leave San Giovanni Rotondo and will arrive at Rome on the afternoon of February 3. They will then be exposed for the veneration of the faithful in the Basilica of Saint Lawrence-Outside-the-Walls, which is entrusted to the community of Capuchin Friars Minor. This ancient basilica will also house the relics of Leopold Mandic (1866-1942), a Capuchin priest of Croatian origin, who is famous for having been a tireless confessor. On the afternoon of February 5, the relics of the two Capuchin priests will be transferred to Saint Peter’s Basilica, at the end of a procession that will depart from the parish of San Salvatore in Lauro, one of the three jubilee churches of the capital. On the morning of February 11, the relics of Padre Pio will set out from the basilica bound for Pietrelcina, in order to return to San Giovanni Rotondo on February 14.

When it was exhumed in 2008, the body of Padre Pio was found to be almost intact. His face, however, has been covered with a mask of painted silicone. Since then, his relics are regularly exposed in a glass reliquary in the sanctuary of San Giovanni Rotondo, in the region of Puglia in southwestern Italy.

(Sources: apic/imedia – DICI no. 328 dated January 15, 2016)