Padre Pio dramatically facing the reality of those in purgatory (a reality many Catholics confront as they personally pray for those in purgatory).
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This is one of the few Padre Pio stories I have seen where part of the evidence can be checked. Has anyone looked for the record of this manās death? Or that the friary was previously a poor house?
A few days later, Padre Pio also told the story to Padre Paolino, and the two decided to go to the town hall, where they looked at the vital statistics for the year I908 and found that on September 18 of that year, one Pietro Di Mauro had in fact died of burns and asphyxiation in Room Number 4 at the friary, then used as a home for the homeless.
At least one well-researched book on Padre Pio states that Padre Paolino confirmed to an outside third party that he checked the town records as described in the article.
Padre Paolino, who was Padre Pioās religious superior for some time, was also skeptical of Padre Pio for a while and conducted a number of ātestsā on him to see if he was really going into ecstasy and if he could really read minds. Padre Pio passed all the tests, much to the surprise of Paolino.
Iām not sure additional research or tests would serve any purpose since (a) at this point in time it seems likely the records in question are no longer available and (b) if someone insists on being a skeptic and is not going to believe either Pio or his initially skeptical religious superior (Padre Pioās charisms werenāt exactly welcomed by many in his order), theyād likely find a reason to discount whatever other evidence might be found also.
In any event, Padre Pio is canonized and the Church has accepted/ declared that he is in heaven and that he had special gifts. For those of us who believe and follow the church and/or love Padre Pio, no further investigation is needed.
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Indeed! But because the Church says the natural order was directly affected by the supernatural, those of us who do not yet see reason to believe in the supernatural are interested in the claims. There is more than a slight chance that the records of the town are available on microfilm from the Mormon Family History Centres. If no such record was found among other extant records it would be an indication that no such death occurred. This is what the traditional ādevilās advocateā would have done during the canonisation process, if this event was relied on as a miracle. I do not think it was. Incidentally, a claim by anyone, including a saint, is not strengthened by a repetition of the claim by the person who made it.
Thanks you for that reply, very informativeā¦
Those who fall in that category are free to conduct their own research, which the Church and, I suspect, the millions of Padre Pio fans out there, will ignore.
You can do the same on dozens of other saints if you like. The Church looks at these cases very carefully before it canonizes someone because it knows that skeptics gonna skeptic.
The Church was so suspicious of Padre Pio during his lifetime that the fact that he was not only canonized, but canonized relatively quickly, is itself testament to his special gifts. I have a hard time thinking of a saint who lived with such skepticism and distrust and general animosity as Padre Pio endured. He also didnāt want to be special or promote himself. He didnāt want to have stigmata. He accepted what the Lord sent him, including all the investigations, distrust, adverse reactions, persecution by members of his own order, physical and mental suffering his life entailed. He was a truly holy man and I believe he is responsible in large part for me being a good Catholic today. If someone canāt accept him without demanding an investigation, then itās their loss. Heās got nothing to prove and itās not necessary to prove anything.
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Did the church verify this or is it personal revelation?
Like the book NDE 7 lessons from heaven.
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