ITALY:PADRE PIO still pulls them in. An estimated 15,000 pilgrims flocked to the small Puglia village of San Giovanni Rotondo yesterday to attend a Mass held to mark the day the saint's recently-exhumed body went on display for public veneration.
During his life Padre Pio prompted much controversy because of the famous "stigmata" - the wounds of Christ's crucifixion - which formed on his hands, feet and side. Many doubted their authenticity, while the saint was subjected to many Holy See inquiries into his "condition".
In a lengthy procedure, however, the Vatican's Congregation for the Cause of Saints rejected accusations that he faked the stigmata. Padre Pio was finally canonised by Pope John Paul 11 in 2002, in a ceremony attended by one of the biggest crowds ever to gather in the Vatican.
Even in the tomb, however, controversy has continued to haunt Padre Pio - as he is still known to many. The decision to exhume his body, 40 years after his death in 1968, prompted bitter controversy last month, with a small group of Padre Pio devotees taking legal action to try, in vain, to stop the exhumation process.
When his body was exhumed from its tomb in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, it was described as being in a "fair condition" despite problems of humidity. At the time, it was not quite clear what this meant, but that became obvious yesterday when it emerged that the decomposition of his face was such that it has had to be covered with a special silicone mask designed by a London-based firm which specialises in waxworks.
Speaking after he had concelebrated yesterday's Mass, the Prefect for the Congregation for the Cause of Saints, Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, explained just why his office had given the go-ahead for the body to be put on public display: "The faithful need to see Padre Pio's body. The faithful need to see and touch symbols. But this is something that applies to every area of human activity. Symbols are much more effective than words."
Padre Pio is one of the most popular saints in the Catholic Church, with an estimated seven million pilgrims visiting the San Giovanni Rotondo shrine every year. Already, 750,000 pilgrims have booked to see the saint, who will be displayed in a crystal sepulchre in the crypt of the San Giovanni Rotondo monastery, where he spent most of his life.