Italy's Padre Pio 'faked his stigmata with acid'
By Malcolm Moore in Rome
Padre Pio, Italy's most-loved saint, faked his stigmata by pouring carbolic acid on his hands, according to a new book.

The Mafia is now Italy's biggest business
The Other Christ: Padre Pio and 19th Century Italy, by the historian Sergio Luzzatto, draws on a document found in the Vatican's archive.


Padre Pio exhibited stigmata throughout his life, starting in 1911
The document reveals the testimony of a pharmacist who said that the young Padre Pio bought four grams of carbolic acid in 1919.

"I was an admirer of Padre Pio and I met him for the first time on 31 July 1919," wrote Maria De Vito.

She claimed to have spent a month with the priest in the southern town of San Giovanni Rotondo, seeing him often.

"Padre Pio called me to him in complete secrecy and telling me not to tell his fellow brothers, he gave me personally an empty bottle, and asked if I would act as a chauffeur to transport it back from Foggia to San Giovanni Rotondo with four grams of pure carbolic acid.

"He explained that the acid was for disinfecting syringes for injections. He also asked for other things, such as Valda pastilles."

The testimony was originally presented to the Vatican by the Archbishop of Manfredonia, Pasquale Gagliardi, as proof that Padre Pio caused his own stigmata with acid.

It was examined by the Holy See during the beatification process of Padre Pio and apparently dismissed.

Padre Pio, whose real name was Francesco Forgione, died in 1968. He was made a saint in 2002. A recent survey in Italy showed that more people prayed to him than to Jesus or the Virgin Mary. He exhibited stigmata throughout his life, starting in 1911.

The new allegations were greeted with an instant dismissal from his supporters. The Catholic Anti-Defamation League said Mr Luzzatto was a liar and was "spreading anti-Catholic libels".

Pietro Siffi, the president of the League, said: "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."

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Italian Scam Artist In Stigmata Not Real Shock

Stigmata isn't real? I can handle that concept.

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Time is the distance that you can't return by miles.

I escaped somehow. Let's go

actualy [sic] I have quite a blessed life if I'm honest. I have many people to love, hate few and have few money problem's [sic].... What more does a person need? Oh yeah and I have some kind of humbleness unlike you of course ^_^ ~ CarefulCarpenter

well, I found it amazing that every old biddy here has his mug hanging off of a keychain and think he's a bona fide saint. I needed to tell, the underexposure of this story is killing me and I haven't seen the car window stickers taken down yet.......

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Well she's wrong, and that's what matters. Old biddies tend to think they're right. The cunts.

__________________
Time is the distance that you can't return by miles.

I escaped somehow. Let's go

actualy [sic] I have quite a blessed life if I'm honest. I have many people to love, hate few and have few money problem's [sic].... What more does a person need? Oh yeah and I have some kind of humbleness unlike you of course ^_^ ~ CarefulCarpenter

Many people should look things up before accusing Padre Pio. I have much experience regarding Padre Pio, but I have just one question:

If he was stupid enough to burn his hands with acid for 50 years of his life, how the heck did he manage to get rid of the hole in 20-odd days,? His stigmata started disappearing just before he died, and the last crust fell off the evening before he died. There was no sign of the stigmata from then on - not even scarring. His skin was like that of a person who had never been scarred in those regions of his body. Most old aged people will tell you that healing isn't easy in old age.

Go on, I challenge you. Burn any part of your body (with acid, or whatever you like) only a few times, and take note of two things: how your wound didn't heal in only a few days, and how you can't get rid of the scar.

My aunt burnt her foot with a drop of boiling coffee when she was seven years old (and yes, it was only a drop of coffee), and she still bears the signs now, and she's nearly 40.

Let me go put another sticker on my car...