Padre Pio faked it?!
No! Marky and I love him … the oozing stigmata for years … he was like a zombie movie come to life. I hope it’s not true. It really does seem like way too much work.
Italy’s Padre Pio ‘faked his stigmata with acid’
By Malcolm Moore in Rome
Last Updated: 2:36am BST 24/10/2007Padre Pio, Italy’s most-loved saint, faked his stigmata by pouring carbolic acid on his hands, according to a new book.
The Other Christ: Padre Pio and 19th Century Italy, by the historian Sergio Luzzatto, draws on a document found in the Vatican’s archive. The document reveals the testimony of a pharmacist who said that the young Padre Pio bought four grams of carbolic acid in 1919.
Pio: in matching stigmata, flowers and robe, spring collection.“I was an admirer of Padre Pio and I met him for the first time on 31 July 1919,” wrote Maria De Vito.
She claimed to have spent a month with the priest in the southern town of San Giovanni Rotondo, seeing him often. “Padre Pio called me to him in complete secrecy and telling me not to tell his fellow brothers, he gave me personally an empty bottle, and asked if I would act as a chauffeur to transport it back from Foggia to San Giovanni Rotondo with four grams of pure carbolic acid.
“He explained that the acid was for disinfecting syringes for injections. He also asked for other things, such as Valda pastilles.”
The testimony was originally presented to the Vatican by the Archbishop of Manfredonia, Pasquale Gagliardi, as proof that Padre Pio caused his own stigmata with acid. It was examined by the Holy See during the beatification process of Padre Pio and apparently dismissed.
Padre Pio, whose real name was Francesco Forgione, died in 1968. He was made a saint in 2002. A recent survey in Italy showed that more people prayed to him than to Jesus or the Virgin Mary. He exhibited stigmata throughout his life, starting in 1911.
The new allegations were greeted with an instant dismissal from his supporters. The Catholic Anti-Defamation League said Mr Luzzatto was a liar and was “spreading anti-Catholic libels”.
Pietro Siffi, the president of the League, said: “We would like to remind Mr Luzzatto that according to Catholic doctrine, canonisation carries with it papal infallibility.
“We would like to suggest to Mr Luzzatto that he dedicates his energies to studying religion properly.”
Valda Pastilles: have one with your stigmata today!
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and I suppose Bernadette Soubirous didnt really see a glowing lady in a toxic city dump grotto?
My Dad gets loads of Catholic org junk mail (the charities sell his address info for profit ofcourse) - some even send you a brand new nickel in envelope to guilt you into sending a few bucks. Anyway ~ all his ” free gift” prayer books and Padre Pio novenas are on the back of the toilet with the Farmer’s Almanac and Reader’s Digest — for his powerdump library. Bless him– he probably prays to Padre Pio daily. 30 years ago- Dad was reading Penthouse Forum mags. Old age scares people straight.
Comment by mizarkey — October 24, 2007 @ 9:13 am
Acid does what Enterna25 can not !
Comment by Michael Abbott — October 24, 2007 @ 10:19 am
I know for a fact that his favorite candy was Perugina Extra Bitter!
Comment by Jim-Jim — October 24, 2007 @ 11:32 am
So how many centuries has this been going on?
I’m not the least bit surprised!
Comment by Kitty — October 24, 2007 @ 1:51 pm
well…he ain’t the only freak to live thru the sixties & get burnt by acid…what are Valda pastilles??? some kinda candy? hahaha…too many good lines inthis one …”A recent survey in Italy showed that more people prayed to him than to Jesus or the Virgin Mary.” how good is that? and the ultimate “truth”…”canonisation carries with it papal infallibility” meaning lie cheat steal fuck & kill whoever you want!!!! YEEHAH!!!
Comment by Howie Pyro — October 24, 2007 @ 2:09 pm
Well, the youngsters loved him because he was full of shit.
Comment by Chris Pissah — October 25, 2007 @ 9:31 am
One thing skeptics CANNOT do effectively is deny that stigmata physically exists and that it is tangible (capable of being touched). The marks provoke wonder, fear, awe, skepticism, cynicism, and both belief and non-belief. Whether the marks are mentally or physically induced, or bordering on the fraudulent (dishonest), the most important thing will be the response made by people…when they see them.
Comment by Rudy — December 5, 2007 @ 8:39 pm
That ‘carbolic acid’ theory for Padre Pio’s stigmata is so old it has gone mouldy. I must have read at least 4 biographies of Padre Pio and each one mentioned the ‘carbolic acid’ allegation which simply doesn’t add up. Why the media should get so overheated about it at this late hour remains a mystery. Anything to sell bumpf. Or just the usual old Catholic-bashing routine? Hi-ho. Is that all that Sergio Lazotto can come up with? Sorry Mr Lazzotto, you’ll have try much harder than this if you wish to debunk Padre Pio.
Comment by R Haydok — December 10, 2007 @ 9:15 am
Really? We don’t hear much about him here. Why would anyone bother going thru such agony for such a complicated hoax anyway? That makes even LESS sense to me. In a way, it’s too late, because he’s a saint now!
Comment by Donna Lethal — December 10, 2007 @ 11:13 am
All I can say, is blessed are they who believe and have not seen, and pray for those who had wished they had believed but did not. The best is that GOD IS FORGIVING, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS ASK ! TO HIM THEN, WHO’S POWER IS NOW AT WORK WITHIN US, WHO CAN DO MORE THAN WE COULD EVER ASK OR IMAGINE, PRAY THAT THIS NONCENSE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED AND THAT YOU MAY SAY WHAT HAS BEEN PROVEN AND BLESSED BY OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST. GO AND PREACH THE TRUTH, FOR IT WILL SET YOU FREE FROM THE TEMPTION OF THE EVIL ONE.
Comment by ANTHONY J. DELL'OMO — June 23, 2008 @ 8:45 pm