Two words about Padre Pio

St Padre Pio, pray for us!

Every now and then, some idiot will come out in search of easy notoriety, and will question the one or other feat of the extraordinary life of Padre Pio.

This is not surprising. Satan is as terrified of Padre Pio now that he is dead, as he was when the great Saint was alive. More so, arguably, now that he is dead and in Paradise, able to help so much more.

To us Catholics, the resurgence of the one or other rumour, of the one or other slander is the source of mild amusement at best. Those who know something of Padre Pio’s life – whoever wants, can find a wealth of unbiased information – know that he was slandered for a great part of his life, and that it is a great sign of  a saint’s holiness that he be slandered after death.

To non-Catholics, Padre Pio will always remain an enigma. An enigma they will refuse to examine in detail, because they know that to delve deep into Padre Pio’s life means to discover the depth of Truth, and they are scared.

But the most stupid of them all are those who on the one hand tell themselves Catholics, and on the other can ever conceive that one of the greatest Saints not of our, but of all times might have thought about committing a fraud, about abusing of the public credulity for – let me count – fifty years or so. I do not know whether this is more blasphemous, or more stupid. More blasphemous, I think. No, more stupid. Hhmm, no… more blasphemous for sure! No, wait…..

This, whilst half of the Catholic world – and the most influential one at that: Gemelli didn’t like him; Gemelli’s friend Pope Pius XI wasn’t a great fan, either – didn’t believe in him and tried everything to “expose” him, the astonishing combination of his graces being, in fact, too much to be believed at once even by undoubtedly smart people, or smart Popes; whilst others, like Pope Pius XII, always supported him with astonishing firmness, and no little courage.

So, we are now asked – and please don’t laugh – to even contemplate the possibility this great Saint might have been a fraud. Worse still, that a great Saint might have been a fraud, and still be a great Saint. Make no mistake, dear reader: this is the work of ignorant, perverted minds.

To the Catholics among you, I do not need to tell anything. You all know that one can’t be a great saint and a massive, fifty-year fraud more than Martha could have been a transsexual, or Judas the good man in the story.

To the non-Catholics among you, some words of instruction:

There has been – before padre Pio – only one male stigmatist: St. Francis. Some other saints have been known to spread around them flavours of roses or other flowers, without being aware of this – this is the origin of the saying “to be in odour of sanctity”, by the way -. Others more have been known to be able to read other people’s mind, particularly in the confessional. Others still have been known to have received – on rare occasions – the gift of bilocation.  Finally, some of them have been known to talk to angels on a regular basis, and to be harassed by the devil because of their holy lives.

There is only one Saint known in the entire Christianity for having shown not one, or two, but all of these graces. This is the same man who – ad majorem Dei gloriam – is still slandered today. May this long last, I am tempted to say: the more the slandering goes on, the more intelligent and inquisitive people will be attracted to the Church through this great, great son of Hers.

Padre Pio didn’t live in some obscure middle-age time, his feats lost in the fog of time, and embellished by the charm of legends. He lived in an age of advanced technology, of radio and television, of spread atheism,  and of accomplished medicine. His stigmata were witnessed by atheist doctors, who couldn’t explain their origin – not many know this, but the Church also uses avowed atheist doctors for this sort of exams, as it keeps everyone honest – and his other miracles and graces and signs were witnessed by so many, that it would be utterly un-Catholic to question the sainthood of the man and thus, by definition, his not being a fraud.

Most importantly of all, the man has been canonised. If there is one thing that canonisation means, only one, is that the saint was not a fraudster.  This is not difficult to get. Not for a non-Catholic, much less for a Catholic. Canonisation is not like beatification, after which event one can still legitimately question the sainthood of the person beatified. Canonisation is matter of infallibility. When someone has been canonised a Catholic shuts up, period. 

There. I had to say it.

Beware of the wolves in sheep’s clothes.

Mundabor