Padre Pio's facts

Many of us know that Padre Pio had a very special relationship with the military and veterans of both World War I and World War II. Padre Pio himself and other three friars of his community were selected for military service. At that time, Padre Pio was a teacher at the seminary and a spiritual director. On 15 November 1915, he was drafted into the Italian Army and on 6 December assigned to the 10th Medical Corps in Naples.

It is known that Padre Pio held Pietrelcina very dear to his heart. Even if he was not able to visit his native town after he left for San Giovanni Rotondo at the age of 29, there are numerous accounts that attest to the Saint's love for his hometown. Padre Pio himself acknowledged that Pietrelcina was particularly important to him because it was there that he first met Jesus.

Padre Pio endeavored throughout his life to dispel any notions that he was anything other than an ordinary person. He never gave up learning, creating, and telling an inexhaustible repertoire of jokes and anecdotes that he told to those who visited him. From testimonies collected from those who were closest to him we are able to get a sense of Padre Pio’s humor.

Saint Pio and Saint Pope John Paul II friendship is dated back to the 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 the pilgrimage to the small town of San Giovanni Rotondo in Southern Italy to meet Padre Pio and to have his confession heard by him.