It´s not for us to say why God chooses to act in one way or another. If He wished St. Francis of Assisi and St. Pio of Petrelcina to bear His wounds (to name but two saints who have received the stigmata), I have no objections.
Okay, I should have been more specific, but you are right. It can be for the benefit of the Church as a whole. Jesus was not the only one capable of suffering for the sake of others. All of us can do it, if we remember to offer it to God as a sacrifice, no matter how insignificant the suffering may seem to us or to others.If stigmata offers nothing to the body of those in the church as a whole then I would compare that to the speaking of tongues also. It seems to hold no purpose at all for the benefit of the entire church. I do think it can be used as a money maker though.
That’s your explanation?!?!?!
What does phenol have to do with anything?
Show me your source. Where did you read about even one documented case, accepted by the Catholic Church as authentic, where carbolic acid was found to be used. Who was the person with the stigmata - and where did you read this?
Are you serious? You can find it even on this site, let alone the entire world by now.
I saw a documentary about a young black girl who had the stigmata that appeared every Easter. I Googled it and found out that her name is Cloretta Robertson, and the stigmata appeared in 1972 when she was 10 years old, after watching a movie about the Crucifixion. She is from Oakland, California, and is not Catholic.
Is it considered a miracle that Padre Pio’s order had a huge blow out with the big guys over who would have control over his big money making machine?Short Article on Stigmata from Catholic sight:
catholic.org/saints/stigmata.php
In any event, souls such as Padre Pio became saints not because of their stigmata but in spite of them. Fr. Goempel, responsible for canonization processes at the Vatican, frowned when asked once whether Padre Pio’s stigmata were to be taken into account in assessing his virtue for sainthood. Fr. Goempel said No and that they avoid taking the mystical from the candidate’s life into account: the Vatican looks as to whether the person lived a Christian, “saintly” life, and it looks for posthumous miracles to determine sanctity. That is it.
Having said that, it is surely amazing what other gifts Saint Pio possessed of reading souls and performing miracles. Indeed, such a world-famous Catholic writer as Graham Greene could not work up the guts to enter Padre Pio’s confessional, believing that the monk could indeed look into one’s soul, as hundreds before had testified.
Another eg., Pope JP2’s friend was dying of cancer when Padre Pio was still alive and JP2 was still not pope. HH JP2 simply wrote a letter asking for Padre Pio to pray for her, and her cancer went into remission thereafter. A miracle. The medical doctors could not explain it.
Getting late here, I think I’ll stick with the OPs original question of the Church’s position on the stigmata. If you’d like to start a new thread on finances between the Vatican and Saint Pio’s order, I think that’s another question.
Well, if the topic is stigmata I sure would like to hear about stigmata if you don’t mind.Getting late here, I think I’ll stick with the OPs original question of the Church’s position on the stigmata. If you’d like to start a new thread on finances between the Vatican and Saint Pio’s order, I think that’s another question.
We are all sinners in this life, including the religious, so it’s probably unrealistic to assume perfect administration of proper management of these things. I mean St. Paul had arguments with St. Peter.
The topic was specifically stigmata. And yes, Padre Pio was very religious, sainted but was also a human being. Hence, near the end of his life, the more weak he became. He even argued with his sister for leaving her nunnery near the end of his life, a choice which caused him much pain.