| | "Did Padre Pio fake his stigmata with carbolic acid? That's the claim made by Italian historian Professor Sergio Luzzatto, who says he has discovered documents including a letter from a pharmacist who supplied carbolic acid for Pio, canonised by Pope John Paul in 2002. The professor has made this claim before, drawing the following reply from the Catholic Anti-Defamation League: "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."
But that response raises more questions than it answers. Is the Church therefore saying that, since canonisation is infallible, it is impossible that any evidence can emerge undermining the grounds for the canonisation? Interestingly, in my experience, controversial saint-making troubles many ordinary Catholics more than doctrines such as transubstantiation. A case in point is St Josemaria Escriva, founder of Opus Dei, some of whose critics (including a highly respected priest who knew Escriva) were not given the opportunity by the Vatican to submit testimony that cast doubt on his holiness.
Pio sceptics insist that Pope John Paul was yielding to pressure from devotees when he declared him a saint – St Pio of Pietrelcina. But that's not necessarily a good argument: the acclamation and petitions of the faithful have been a factor in saint-making since the earliest days of Christianity. There's a fine line, however, between natural and manipulated petitions, and I'm sure it's been crossed many times, not least by Opus Dei.
What bothers me about the claims about Pio – which I haven't studied closely enough to evaluate – is that they will be used by the secular world and its Catholic allies to pour scorn on the peasant and working-class devotions that Vatican II ideologues tried to eradicate. It feels a bit like an assault on the spirituality that sustained my grandparents, for whom Padre Pio was a source of inspiration. Anyway, I'd be interested in your thoughts."
The Telegraph |
Astrologia
Lua Nova (Clique para ver +)
Tempo decorrido : 21 ano(s) 10 mes(es) 10 dia(s) 
16/06 Pesquise 16 de Junho/2002Pesquise o ano 2002 
Beatificação / Canonização 
Religião 
Vaticano Papa João Paulo II canoniza o padre Pio (Francesco Forgione) 
Itália O historiador italiano Sergio Luzzatto lança biografia de Padre Pio 
Lua Cheia (Clique para ver +)
Inauguração 
Medicina 
Brasil Inauguração da Ala 'Padre Pio de Pietrelcina' no Hospital São Camilo de Esteio (RS) 
Jornalismo 
Inglaterra Matéria do 'The Telegraph' comenta sobre suposta fraude de Padre Pio (1887-1968) 
Cinema e Artes Cênicas 
Hungria Lançamento do filme 'Padre Pio: Tra cielo e terra' (Michele Placido interpreta o padre Pio) 
Homenagem 
