more immediately, and more satisfactorily than any of his immensely erudite contemporaries in their university chairs.
Here was a man who lived in the time of radio, television, movies, automobiles, air travel, and space exploration; who, though he did not live to see (and probably lament) personal computers and the internet, died at the beginning of the computer age; who worked miracles similar to those performed by the prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles of the New Testament. Here was a man in whom the words of Christ seem to have been fulfilled in a very obvious way: “Who believes in me will also do the works that I do” (Jn 14:12). Many sane, well-educated, and reasonably objective people have affirmed of Padre Pio that, like Moses, “The Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Ex 33:11).
There is overwhelming testimony also that Padre Pio was gifted with the “aroma of paradise,” that frequently he displayed intimate knowledge of the inner lives and thoughts of those who came to him. Without leaving his friary at San Giovanni Rotondo, many insist, Padre Pio was often seen and addressed in other parts of Italy and the world; while his colleagues observed him deep in prayer or even dozing, people hundreds, even thousands, of miles away saw and heard him.
The archives of the Our Lady of Grace friary contain, according to a friar familiar with them, more than a thousand testimonies of people inexplicably delivered from incurable maladies and the effects of crippling injuries. Even more remarkable, great numbers of people swear that when the stigmatized friar celebrated Mass, he communicated to them the reality of Christ on Calvary, and that, during his Mass, Padre Pio’s face and form underwent a visible change — almost a metamorphosis. One of the friars who assisted Padre Pio in the saint’s later years declared that more people were deeply touched by Padre Pio through his Mass than through his healings, bilocations, and prophecies.
Perhaps most important, thousands testify that through Padre Pio’s ministry, they learned to walk in holiness and to resign themselves to God’s will, offering their suffering and heartache as a sacrifice to the Almighty for the conversion of souls.
Padre Pio’s disciples cherish his words, “I shall be able to do much more for you when I am in heaven than I can now while I am on earth.” Many report great favors received through his intercession. Some, even decades after his death, smell the “aroma of paradise,” which is believed to be a sign of his presence. Some, like Padre Pio’s old friend Andrea Cardone, a doctor of medicine, profess to have seen and talked to Padre Pio “in his mortal flesh,” even while his wax-masked corpse reposes in his tomb.
Not everyone was impressed by Padre Pio. The local archbishop, Pasquale Gagliardi (1859–1941), insisted that the stigmata were merely “pimples” and that Pio soaked himself in perfume to produce the “aroma of paradise.” Eventually, he swore on his pectoral cross that the Capuchin was demon-possessed. Agostino Gemelli (1878–1959), a prominent psychologist, Franciscan priest, and theologian, characterized Pio as an ignorant southern Italian peasant of limited intelligence, manipulated by his unscrupulous directors, whose wounds were the result of hysteria. Dr. Amico Bignami (1862–1929), professor of pathology at the University of Rome, confirmed the existence of the stigmata, but implied that the wounds were the result of autosuggestion. Monsignor Carlo Maccari (1913–1997), who conducted an investigation in 1960, dismissed Padre Pio as a “small and petty person”9 and wrote, “How is it that a man who has no exceptional natural qualities and who is anything but free of shadows and defects has been able to build a popularity that has few equals in the religious history of our times?”10
To many, Padre Pio remains a curious and unbelievable figure, subject matter for supermarket tabloids, his alleged appearances after death compared to those of Elvis Presley. Many, at least in the “developed” world, cannot relate to mysterious fragrances, miraculous healings, and communication with Mary, angels, and devils.
Some might be inclined to write off Padre Pio as a curious footnote to religious history, dismissing him as the creation of the credulous piety of a backward society. Nonetheless, it is hard to deny that, for thousands of people from all walks of life — physicians, scientists, lawyers, journalists, as well as peasants and unskilled laborers — Padre Pio made Christianity real. Through his ministry, many were led to deep and permanent conversion experiences and lives changed for the better.
It also cannot be denied that many individuals — perhaps thousands — have testified to Padre Pio’s mystical charismata. Some accounts are vague and farfetched, the half-remembered ramblings of aged persons recalling events many years distant. However, there are other accounts contemporary to the events in question, written down in detail by educated, intelligent, reliable, and well-balanced witnesses.
One thing is certain: Padre Pio cannot be dismissed lightly. It seems plain that several hypotheses can be made about the Capuchin priest and his ministry, though only one of them can ultimately be true:
• First, that Padre Pio was one of the greatest frauds in history, a showman, perhaps in league with Satan (if one believes in the devil), a magician capable of humbugging the public to a degree unimagined even by P. T. Barnum.
• Second, that Padre Pio was the product, in large measure, of the superstitious imaginings of an ignorant and gullible peasantry who read into the life of a simple, holy priest what they wanted to see, building a cult based on their own fantasies.
• Third, that Padre Pio was delusional, perhaps even schizophrenic, who was possessed of a clever ability to convince thousands of people that his delusions were reality.
• Fourth, if none of these three scenarios is true, then it is reasonable to conclude that Padre Pio of Pietrelcina was what he appeared to be: namely, one of the most significant figures in Christian history, a man of prophetic and apostolic stature, who, through great personal holiness, enlightened wisdom, and spiritual gifts inexplicable by science, tended to confirm the truth of the Gospels and the veracity of historical Christianity to an indifferent and unbelieving age; a man capable of conveying to an extraordinary extent a sense of God’s love and care; an evangelist who never conducted a crusade, and who, without traveling more than a few miles from his friary in a half-century, seemed capable of transforming lives to a degree unimagined by the most successful of preachers.
Padre Pio’s life is remarkably well-supported by good primary evidence. Admittedly, there are difficulties in proving certain aspects with documentary evidence. Padre Alessio Parente (1933–2000), who was one of Padre Pio’s companions and assistants in the last years of his life, recalled: “We didn’t have time to write things down. At night we were so stressed and so tired that we didn’t have five minutes to put a pen in our hands. We went straight to bed. That’s why I never put any notes down. I’m sorry now, for being at Padre Pio’s side, I could have noticed every movement, every word he said. I tried to tape him, but he knew [and would not cooperate].” Yet Alessio and other friars did, on occasion, succeed in taking down his conversations.
Father Dominic Meyer, who served as Padre Pio’s English- and German-language secretary for more than a decade, wrote in one of his circular letters to family and friends in America: “As to newspaper accounts: how often have not the superiors of Padre Pio been asked to clarify statements by journalists that were positively false, exaggerated misrepresentations of the truth. [Alberto] Del Fante [an Italian writer] collected many such newspaper accounts, sometimes several of the same event. Comparing these — on the same event — one sees how unreliable they are…. There were not only misrepresentations of the truth, there were lies, calumnies. Newspaper reports taken alone are not a source of history. They must be checked and double-checked.”
Father Dominic was also skeptical about the testimony of some of Padre Pio’s friends. “We have plenty experience with such testimony,” he wrote. “Not all who speak about Padre Pio and their experience are trustworthy. Some, wishing to pose as special friends
