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The Story of Padre Pio
A true story told in simple words: a boy from a small Italian town who learned to pray, became a Capuchin friar, listened to people's sorrows for fifty years, and taught the world to "pray, hope, and don't worry."
Read-aloud narration by an openly licensed voice model. Illustrations are original composite scenes, not historical footage.
Evidence for This Page
What Young Hearts Can Learn
Prayer First
Padre Pio's whole day began and ended with prayer - everything else grew out of it.
Listening
In the confessional he showed that truly listening to someone is a way of loving them.
Patience in Hard Times
When he was misunderstood and restricted, he obeyed quietly and kept praying.
One Person at a Time
He helped whoever stood in front of him - and built a hospital out of other people's pain.
True Dates in the Story
- May 25, 1887: Birth of Francesco Forgione (Padre Pio) in Pietrelcina, Italy.
- 1903: He enters the Capuchin novitiate at Morcone and receives the name Pio.
- August 10, 1910: He is ordained a priest.
- 1916: He is assigned to the friary of San Giovanni Rotondo, his home for the rest of his life.
- September 20, 1918: He receives the stigmata while praying after Mass.
- 1956: Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, the hospital he founded, opens.
- September 23, 1968: He dies in his cell at the friary.
- May 2, 1999: Beatified by Pope John Paul II.
- June 16, 2002: Canonized by Pope John Paul II. His feast day is September 23.
Note: Some well-known details of Padre Pio's life (such as the exact moments of the stigmata) rest on his own letters and witness testimony; the Church investigated his life for decades before canonizing him.