Padre Pio: The Stigmatist by Reverend Charles Mortimer Carty

Paperback:  It would be easier for the earth to carry on without the sun than without the Holy Mass. - Padre Pio

Padre Pio died on 23 September 23 1968, his funeral attended by over 100 000 people.

During the fifty-eight years he was a priest, his monastery at San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, became a mecca for pilgrims from all over the world.

Born Francesco Forgione on 25 May 25 1887 in the town of Pietrelcina in southeastern Italy, Padre Pio joined the Capuchin Order in 1903 and was ordained in 1910.

On 20 September 1918, he received the sacred wounds of Christ, the stigmata, which he bore the rest of his life.

Renowned for the stigmata, which modern medical science could not explain, Padre Pio also possessed other unusual qualities, such as bilocation, celestial perfume, reading of hearts, miraculous cures, remarkable conversions, and prophetic insight.  Although he did not leave his monastery and was under obedience not to write or preach, this humble Capuchin monk became world famous for his piety, his counsel, and his miracles.

He was universally regarded as a saint in his own time.

Pope John Paul II beatified Padre Pio of Pietrelcina on Sunday, 2 May 1999 in St. Peter's Basilica Square before a throng of 650 000 devotees of this famed 20th-century stigmatist and canonized on 16 June 2002.

Remember that God is within us when we are in His grace, and outside of us when we are in sin. -Padre Pio

Padre Pio:  The Stigmatist is republished in 1973.

About the author:  For twenty-four years, Father Carty worked with Father Leslie Rumble of Sydney, Australia, in the apostolate of the radio and press.  Radio Replies Press of St Paul, Minnesota, was founded by these two courageous priests and hundreds of thousands of Catholic books and pamphlets were distributed by them through this outlet.  To gather information for the present account, Father Carty went to San Giovanni Rotondo to visit Padre Pio, living right in the Monastery, where he wrote much of the book.  Upon publication, Father Carty toured the United States, giving sermons in Catholic parishes on the subject of Padre Pio, promoting knowledge of this saintly stigmatist.  On 22 May 1964, Father Charles Mortimer Carty died in Eire, Pennsylvania, while on such a tour.