News - October 2024

Saint Pio and Saint Pope John Paul II’s friendship dated back to 1947 when the young Father Karol Wojtyla was engaged in doctoral studies at Rome’s Pontifical International Athenaeum Angelicum, the future Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas. He made a pilgrimage to the small town of San Giovanni Rotondo in southern Italy to meet Padre Pio and to have his confession heard by him. Father Karol Wojtyla spent nearly a week in San Giovanni Rotondo and had the opportunity to speak at length with Padre Pio, who called himself the “humble friar who prays.”