IRELAND:Suggestions in a new book that the saint Padre Pio faked his stigmata through the use of carbolic acid on his hands have been dismissed by a spokesman for Ireland's Catholic bishops.
He noted the suggestions "surrounded publicity concerning a new book", which he did not wish to add to, but said "the fact that Padre Pio is a saint speaks for itself."
The book, The Other Christ: Padre Pio and 19th-Century Italy, by historian Sergio Luzzatto, bases its account on a document in the Vatican archive which contained testimony of pharmacist Maria De Vito, from whom Padre Pio ordered four grammes of carbolic acid in 1919.
He asked the pharmacist to keep this secret and said the acid was for sterilising needles.
This testimony was originally presented to the Vatican by Archbishop Pasquale Gagliardi of Manfredonia, as proof that Padre Pio caused his own stigmata with acid but, on investigation in Rome, it was dismissed.
Padre Pio's beatification process began in 1982 and concluded with his canonisation on June 16th, 2002, when an estimated half a million people attended the ceremony in Rome.
Born in 1897, Padre Pio exhibited stigmata from 1911 until his death in 1968.
Throughout his life he was dogged by controversy, with the church alternately placing and lifting restrictions on him and his ministry.
Accusations made against him, often by respected clergy and professionals, included insanity, an immoral attitude to women and claims that he had intercourse with women in the confessional (which were later withdrawn by his priest accuser), misuse of funds, and claims that his stigmata were induced with acid.
It was also claimed that the reported "odour of sanctity" surrounding him was a result of self-administered eau de cologne.
At one time or another he was accused of infringements against all three of his vows - poverty, chastity and obedience.
He was subjected to several investigations by the church but it was Pope Paul VI, in the mid-1960s, who firmly dismissed all accusations against Padre Pio.
Pope John Paul had been a constant admirer since their first meeting in 1947, when Padre Pio is claimed to have told him, then a young priest, that he would one day ascend to "the highest post in the church".
It was he who canonised him.