Supporters of Beloved Saint, Padre Pio, Are Furious at Vatican’s Plans to Exhume Body
Forty Years After His Death, Padre Pio remains One of Italy’s Most Revered Saints
Is Exhumation a “Veneration”, i.e., an “Honoring of the Dead”?Â
We’ve been getting conflicting reports as to why the Vatican plans to exhume the body of the beloved Saint, Padre Pio. Whatever the reason, Padre Pio pilgrims are hopping mad.
From the BBC:
The bishop of San Giovanni Rotondo announced at the weekend that the corpse would be exhumed and put on display for several months in the town where he spent most of his life.
Padre Pio, one of Italy’s most popular saints, was canonized in 2002. An attorney for the saint’s niece has threatened to sue calling the idea a “profanation of the remains of the monk.”
Padre Pio’s remains are interred in a church crypt in San Giovanni Rotondo in south Italy.
Church authorities say they want to display the body for veneration by the faithful for several months from April.
From the Telegraph:
The Holy See said the exhumation was simply to “check on the state of the body” on the 40th anniversary of the saint’s death.
It underlined that it was not digging up the body in order to verify Padre Pio’s controversial claim to have stigmata.
“We authorised it because it is a normal procedure,” said Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
“We have to value the state of the body and its conservation. We often do it.
Veneration is the act of “honoring” the dead.In it’s defense of the move, The Vatican points out the case of St. Bernadette, who’s been on display since 1925.
Read rest of story:
Padre Pio’s Fans Angry at Vatican’s Plans to Exhume Saint’s BodyÂ
Source:
Padre Pio’s Fans Angry at Vatican’s Plans to Exhume Saint’s Body
Mondoreb blogs at Death By 1000 Papercuts. Interested readers can e-mail him at
mondoreb@gmail.com. All DBKP stories are filed under Mondoreb at BNN.
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2 users commented in " Padre Pio Fans in Uproar over Exhumation: Vatican Ghoulish? "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackThe roman catholic church just opened their first ever church in Qatar on 3-15-2008. They sent a bishop (or some other rank) with gifts for the opening. The gifts consisted of a chalice, and a relic of Padre Pio’s. This new church is dedicated to Mary of the rosary. This could possibly be the reason for the exhumation, to get pieces of his body, to send to churches.
The Catholic Church has performed a disgraceful act by exhuming Padre Pio’s body. The family of the Reverand was in stark contrast to this action and protested this decision;… the Church did it anyway. In the U.S.A. it is illegal to exhume a body unless ordered by a judge for serious crimal reasons.Even more disturbing is the fact that a latex mask was created in Padre Pio’s image to cover his decomposing face. This is a travesty, not only to Padre Pio and his family, but to faith itself. Jesus said,”Blessed are those who have not seen, yet still believe”. The Church is far too concerned about “seeing as believing”, which is counter point to Christ’s message.
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