Merchandising and sanctity: The invasive cult of Padre Pio

Journal of Modern Italian Studies

Volumn 7, Issue 1, 2002, Pages 88-115

  Margry, Jan ^a  

^a ROYAL NETHERLANDS ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES   (Netherlands)

Author keywords

Catholic fundamentalism; Contemporary; Cult; Devotion; Italy; Padre Pio; Saint; Sanctity

Indexed keywords

EID: 60949971441     PISSN: 1354571X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/13545710110116941     Document Type: Review

References (147)

1. A large proportion of this 'library' is to be found in San Giovanni Rotondo. All publications concerning Padre Pio and his cult are collected in the Sala di lettura Padre Pio, on the Viale Cappuccini 99, 71023 San Giovanni Rotondo. The library was founded in 1990, close by the shrine and the hospital, and specializes in three subjects: the spirituality and life of Padre Pio; the spirituality and history of the Franciscan movement, of which Padre Pio was a member, and the spirituality and history of the Church; and the history of San Giovanni Rotondo, Apulia and Italy, and other countries in so far as they are relevant to Padre Pio. In 2000 it comprised about 35,000 books, 5,000 brochures, 2,500 manuscripts and 60 periodical titles; on this library, see Antonio Villani, 'La Sala di lettura Padre Pio', Voce di Padre Pio 31 (October 2000): 42-3.
2. See further the now dated bibliography, A. da Ripabottoni, Molti hanno scritto di lui, Bibliografia su Padre Pio da Pietrelcina, 2 vols (San Giovanni Rotondo: Ed. Padre Pio, 1986), and the hundreds of titles on Pio that can be found through the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo Unico: http: //opac.sbn.it.
3. These are primarily letters: M. de Pobladura and A. da Ripabottoni (eds) Padre Pio da Pietrelcina. Epistolario, 4 vols (San Giovanni Rotondo: Ed. Padre Pio, 1975-84);
4. Gerardo di Flumeri (ed.) Padre Pio da Pietrelcina. Lavori scolastici (San Giovanni Rotondo: Ed Padre Pio, 1993);
5. Felice D'Onofrio and Pietro Zarrella (eds) Pio da Pietrelcina, Dolcissimo Iddio, 41 lettere inedite alla diletta figlia spirituale Giuseppina Morgera (Casale Monferrato: Piemme, 1994).
6. Alessandro da Ripabottoni, Padre Pio da Pietrelcina. Un cireneo per tutti (Foggia, 1974);
7. later a condensed edition was produced under the same title, which was also translated into English as: Padre Pio of Pietrelcina: Everybody's Cyrenean' (2nd edn 1996)
8. and the 'official' biography by Fernando da Riese Pio X, Padre Pio da Pietrelcina, crocifisso senza croce (Rome, 1975; San Giovanni Rotondo: Ed. Padre Pio, 1998, 6th edn);
9. for the information given in this article about the person of Pio, the reader is referred to these volumes. See further the short contribution by Alessandro da Ripabottoni, 'Forgione, Francesco', in Bibliotheca Sanctorum prima appendice (Rome: Città Nuova, 1987), p. 498.
10. The journal is published by the Capuchins: Studi su Padre Pio. Rassegna quadrimestrale di ricerche su Padre Pio 1 (2000) (January-April) (publisher: Edizione Voce di Padre Pio).
11. With the help of the libraries of the Dipartimento di studi glottoantropologici (La Sapienza) and the Museo nazionale dell arti e tradizioni popolari (Rome), a small bibliographic investigation was carried out regarding the existence of such publications. Only a handful of relevant academic titles were located: William A. Christian, 'Holy people in peasant Europe', Comparative Studies in Society and History 15 (1973): 110-13;
12. Giuseppe Scarvaglieri, Pellegrinaggio ed esperienza religiosa. Ricerca socio-religiosa sul santuario Santa Maria delle Grazie (San Giovanni Rotondo: Ed. Padre Pio, 1987);
13. Christopher McKevitt, 'San Giovanni Rotondo and the shrine of Padre Pio', in John Eade and Michael J. Sallnow, Contesting the Sacred. The Anthropology of Christian Pilgrimage (London: Routledge, 1991), pp. 77-97;
14. Christopher McKevitt, '"To suffer and never to die", the concept of suffering in the cult of Padre Pio da Pietrelcina', Journal of Mediterranean Studies 1 (1991): 54-67;
15. Christopher McKevitt, 'Contestation et fabrication d'un culte. Le cas de Padre Pio de Pietrelcina', Terrain 24: 91-102.
16. on this see Silvia Fumarola, 'Lo sketch su Padre Pio offende gli italiani', La Repubblica, 1 February 2001.
17. For instance, G. De Rosa et al., Storia dell'Italia religiosa, dl. 3: L'età contemporanea (Bari: Laterza, 1995), p. 367, with several short mentions of Pio.
18. Regarding this, see: Ennemond Boniface, Padre Pio de Pietrelcina. Vie - oeuvres - passion. Essai historique (n.p.: La Table Ronde, 1966), pp. 121-263;
19. Da Riese Pio X, Padre Pio, pp. 265-85;
20. and further, Francobaldo Chiocci, I nemici di Padre Pio (Rome: Ed. 'Reporter', 1968).
21. Agostino Gemelli, 'Le affermazioni della scienza intorno alle stimmate di S. Francesco', Studi Francescani 10 (1924): 364-404.
22. On Gemelli: see G. Cosmacini, Gemelli. Il Machiavelli di Dio (Milan: Rizzoli, 1986).
23. See: McKevitt, 'To suffer and never to die', pp. 54-67, and on this theme in general: C. W. Bynum, Holy Fast and Holy Feast (Berkeley: UBP, 1987);
24. Ted Harrison, Stigmata. A Medieval Mystery in a Modern Age (New York: Penguin Books, 1994).
25. See further: J. M. Höcht, Von Franziskus zu Pater Pio und Thérèse Neumann. Eine Geschichte der Träger der Wundmale Christi, 2 vols (Wiesbaden: Credo, 1951);
26. Paul Siwek, 'Two stigmatists: Padre Pio and Thérèse Neumann', Revue de l'Université d'Ottawa 28 (1958): 105-29;
27. Gerardo di Flumeri (ed.) Atti del convegno di studi sulle stimmate del Servo di Dio Padre Pio da Pietrelcina (San Giovanni Rotondo: Ed. Padre Pio, 1988);
28. Gerardo di Flumeri (ed.) Le stigmate di Padre Pio da Pietrelcina: Testimonianze, relazione (San Giovanni Rotondo: Ed. Padre Pio, 1995);
29. P. M. Marianeschi, La stimmatizzazione somatica. Fenomeno e segno (Vatican City: LEV, 2000).
30. For one such bilocation involving Padre Pio see 'A sister receives direction', The Voice of Padre Pio 30 (2) (2000): 8-9.
31. for this epithet see Rina Cammileri, La storia di Padre Pio (Casale Monferrata: Piemme, 1993), pp. 77-91.
32. Matilde Passa, Lacrime e sangue. Viaggio nella religiosità popolare (Milan: Baldini & Castoldi, 2000), p. 126.
33. De Rosa et al., Storia dell'Italia religiosa, vol. 3: L'età contemporanea, p. 363 (concerning John XXIII).
34. For this Pope, see, Enciclopedia dei papi, vol. 3 (Rome: Istituto Enciclopedia Italia, 2000), pp. 681-97;
35. A. Vircondelet, Jean-Paul II (Paris: Julliard, 1994);
36. T. Szulc, Pope John Paul II. The Biography (New York: Scribner, 1995);
37. M. Politi and M. Bernstein, Sua Santità (Milan: Rizzoli, 1996);
38. Daniele Menozzi, I papi del '900 (Florence: Casterman, 2000), pp. 94-123.
39. An English translation of the decree can be found at: www.ncfpp.org/vatdec.htm. For the beatification and its effects on the media and society: M. I. Macioti, 'L'ultimo dei beati: padre Pio da Pietrelcina', La Critica Sociologica 129 (June 1999): 139-50.
40. Pierangelo Sapegno, 'Truffati i frati di Padre Pio. Miliardi in fumo, finanziere condannato', La Stampa, 17 February 2001, p. 14.
41. Luigi Cancrini, 'Perizia psichiatrica di Padre Pio', MicroMega, Almanacco di filosofia 3 (1999): 194-200.
42. For a brief discussion of San Giovanni Rotondo and its cults, in its development strongly 'captive' to anthropological concepts, see McKevitt, 'San Giovanni Rotondo and the shrine of Padre Pio', pp. 77-97; among many others see further the sites: www.padrepio.it, www.padre-pio.com, www.vocedipadrepio.com/, www.operapadrepio.it., www.abol.it/padrepio/ and padrepio.freeservers.com.
43. In the 1980s his cult was not yet so general or disseminated through all social classes; see Scarvaglieri, Pellegrinaggio ed esperienza religiosa, pp. 122-7, 287-339; in the 1990s the cult became more or less general.
44. For a listing of Italian VIPs among Pio's devotissimi, see for instance: Laura delli Colli, 'Al Padre Pio fan club', Panorama, 23 November 2000, p. 19.
45. See for instance: Luigi Peroni, Padre Pio, il San Francesco dei nostri tempi (n.p.: Borla, 1998).
46. This writer did not have an opportunity to conduct large-scale quantitative research on this point. But on the basis of a large number of interviews and conversations with Italians and a survey of media reports, the number of persistent opponents or critics of Padre Pio can be estimated at less than 5 per cent of the total population. Also, as a rule writers are no longer negative towards him: Antonio Motta, Scrittori per Padre Pio (Novaria: Interlinea, 1999).
47. For the significance of the hospital, see: McKevitt, '"To suffer and never to die"' pp. 62-6, and further, Da Riese Pio X, Padre Pio, pp. 311-35.
48. Regarding conversions and the hospital, see also for a pleasant impression of the cult practice in 1968: H. V. Morton, A Traveller in Southern Italy (London: Methuen, 1969).
49. In an interview on the television programme, Porta a Porta ('Il nuovo padre Pio'), 8 November 2000, on Rai 1.
50. Informant, age 48, from Mollia (VC), 26 December 2000. Bilocation is the quality or capacity of being physically (or at least visibly) present in two different places at the same time. In certain respects, one could qualify one of the two situations as an apparition. See regarding this Celia Green, Esperienze di bilocazione (Rome: Ed. Mediterranea, 1970).
51. Regarding impurity and hygienic discipline through collective self-compulsion, see: Mary Douglas, Purity and Danger (London: Routledge, 1966);
52. Norbert Elias, Über den Prozess der Zivilisation, Soziogenetische und psychogenetische Untersuchungen (Basel: Haus zum Falken, 1939), the paragraph on personal hygiene;
53. William Ward, Getting It Right in Italy. A Manual for the 1990s (London: Bloomsbury, 1990), the chapter 'L'uomo: body and mind' (on hygiene).
54. Padre Pio - 2000 questionnaire (respondent: woman, born 1932), archive Meertens-Instituut, Amsterdam.
55. Padre Pio - 2000 questionnaire (respondent: woman, born 1927), archive Meertens-Instituut, Amsterdam.
56. On his practice in confession, see Da Riese Pio X, Padre Pio, pp. 201-31.
57. Padre Pio - 2000 questionnaire (respondents: woman, born 1927, woman, born 1932), archive Meertens-Instituut, Amsterdam.
58. Scarvaglieri, Pellegrinaggio ed esperienza religiosa, pp. 253-62. The percentages were obtained on the basis of answers to open questions in the surveys: a percentage shift occurred with multiple choice questions.
59. Interview with Gerardo di Flumeri, in San Giovanni Rotondo, 18 October 2000.
60. For these qualities see, among others: Da Riese Pio X, Padre Pio, pp. 185-98;
61. Jim Gallagher, Padre Pio, apparizioni, guarigioni e miracoli nelle testimonianze di chi lo ha conosciuto (Milan: San Paolo, 1999), pp. 32-124.
62. Umberto Cordier, Guida ai luoghi miracolosi d'Italia (Casale Monferrato: Piemme, 2000), p. 339;
63. Elena Bergalano, Padre Pio. Il profumo dell'amore (Milan: Paoline, 1999).
64. See the letter sent in by a French Pio devotee: 'Padre Pio, superstar', The Tablet, 23 January 1999.
65. See www.ncfpp.org/fraud.htm.
66. Jeroen Smith, 'De gestigmatiseerde priester uit San Giovanni Rotondo', Katholiek Nieuwsblad, 23 April 1999, p. 24.
67. In addition to the usual votive gifts, a separate genre appears to have arisen of making portraits of Padre Pio or otherwise depicting him, by drawing, painting, making mosaics, in needlework or carving. A great deal of this amateur art or craft work hangs in the shrine or in the Sala di lettura Padre Pio, and is further stored in the archive. See also Antonio Ciccone, Padre Pio visto da Antonio Ciccane: dipinti, disegni, schizzi e una litografia dal 1958 al 1999 (Florence, 1999).
68. For practical reasons, it is almost impossible to discourage tossing money offerings and letters of intention. Graffiti have been systematically removed at least since the 1960s; see Morton, A Traveller in Southern Italy. In this connection, it is startling that the study by G. B. Bronzini (ed.) Ex voto e santuari in Puglia I: Il Gargano (Florence: L. S. Olschki, 1993), entirely neglects the Pio/Mary shrine at San Giovanni Rotondo and its votive gifts.
69. See Francesco de Palma, 'La santità postconciliare: considerazioni statistiche, tipologiche e sociologiche per una storia delle canonizzazioni', in Francesco Scorza Barcellona (ed.) Santi del Novecento, storia, agiografia, canonizzazione (Turin: Rosenberg & Sellier, 1998), pp. 49-82.
70. For the ecclesiastical politics of this Pope, see Menozzi, I papi del '900, pp 94-123.
71. For Brandsma see: H. W. F. Aukes, Het leven van Titus Brandsma, 3rd edn (Utrecht: Spectrum, 1985);
72. H. P.M. Heruerand G. Prinsen (eds) Titus Brandsma. Zaligverklaring Rome 1985 (Oegstgeest: Stichting R. K. Voorlichting [1985]);
73. C. E. M. Struyker Boudier (ed.) Titus Brandsma, herzten - herdacht - herschreven (Baarn: Gooi & Sticht, 1993).
74. For Stein see: L. Borriello (ed.) Edith Stein. Mistica e martire (Vatican City: Ed. Vaticana, 1992);
75. E. Constantini, Edith Stein, profilo di una vita vissuta nella ricerca della verità (Vatican City: Ed. Vaticana, 1992);
76. Rudolf Stertenbrink, Neuer Tag, neues Leben: Edith Stein, ihr Weg, ihre Botschaft für heute (Frankfurt, 1997);
77. R. Girardello, Edith Stein. 'In grande pace varcai la soglia' (Rome: Ed. OCD, 1998);
78. J. Sleiman and L. Borriello (eds) Edith Stein. Testimone di oggi, profeta per domani. Atti del simposio internazionale Roma - Teresianum 7-9 ottobre 1998 (Vatican City: Ed. Vaticana, 1999).
79. For Teresa see: Mother Teresa: In My Own Words 1910-1997 (New York: Random House, 1997);
80. Kathryn Spinks, Mother Teresa. A Complete Authorized Biography (New York: Harper Collins, 1998).
81. For Hillesum, see Graziella Merlatti, Etty Hillesum. Un cuore pensante (Rome: Ancora, 1999).
82. They were united in the International Association for the Defense of the Person and Works of Padre Pio; see Boniface, Padre Pio da Pietrelcina, p. 199.
83. Anna-Maria Turi, Pourqoui la Vierge apparait aujourd'hui (Paris: Félin, 1988), pp. 55-6.
84. For this see Peter Jan Margry, 'La terra di nessuno dei devoti. Strategie e diffusione di devozioni informali a carattere transnazionale nell'Italia e nell'Olanda contemporanee', forthcoming in La Critica Sociologica.
85. For instance, the apparitions at Garabandal, rejected in 1967 by the Bishop of Santander; these were subsequently promoted particularly by Pio supporters because Pio had acknowledged these appearances as authentic; see: Sandra L. Zimdars-Swartz, Encountering Mary. Visions of Mary from La Salette to Medjugorje (New York: Avon, 1992), pp. 228-9;
86. N. Perry and L. Echeverria, Under the Heel of Mary (New York: Routledge, 1988), pp. 264-5;
87. William A. Christian, Jr, Visionaries. The Spanish Republic and the Reign of Christ (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1996), pp. 25, 284, 398.
88. For Catholic fundamentalism in general, see: W. Beinert (ed.) Katholische Fundamentalismus. Häretische Gruppen in der Kirche? (Regensburg: Pustet, 1991);
89. Enzo Pace and Piero Stefani, Il fondamentalismo religioso contemporaneo (Brescia: Queriniana, 2000), pp. 133-51;
90. for fundamentalism in relation to this article, see Margry, 'La terra di nessuno'.
91. See further also F. Ferrarotti et al. (eds) Studi sulla produzione sociale del sacro, volume primo: Forme del sacro in un'epoca di crisi (Naples: Liguori, 1978).
92. Regarding Fatima, see: Zimdars-Swartz, Encountering Mary, passim;
93. G. Hierzenberger and O. Nedomansky, Erscheinungen und Botschaften der Gottesmutter Maria. Vollständige Dokumentation durch zwei Jahrtausende (Augsburg: Pattloch, 1993), pp. 250-66;
94. in this connection, on Fatima and other appearances, see Paolo Apolito, Il cielo in terra. Costruzioni simboliche di un'apparizione mariana (Bologna: Il Mulino, 1992), pp. 153-68.
95. For this, see: Da Riese Pio X, Padre Pio, pp. 424-6;
96. La Madonna e Padre Pio. Pubblicazione speciale dell'Apostolato della Madonna di Fatima in Italia in occasione della beatificazione di Padre Pio (Rome: Centro di Fatima, 1999).
97. Regarding Kowalska, see: Bibliotheca Sanctorum prima appendice (Rome: Città Nuova, 1987),pp. 719-20;
98. Bibliotheca Sanctorum secondo appendice (Rome: Città Nuova, 2000), p. 883.
99. Perry and Echeverria, Under the Heel of Mary, p. 264.
100. For the background to this, see Edward D. O'Connor, 'The roots of Pope John Paul II's devotion to Mary', Marian Studies 39 (1988): 78-114.
101. See the publication of sources, Il messaggio di Fatima (Vatican City: Ed. Vaticana, 2000). In connection with his devotion to Fatima, the beatification by John Paul II of two (of the three) visionaries, Francisco and Jacinta, on 13 May 2000, is also relevant.
102. For commentary, see 'Il segreto svelato', Il Messagero, 14 May 2000, pp. 2-3, 5.
103. Zimdars-Swartz, Encountering Mary, pp. 98-101.
104. Pablo Martin Sanguiao, 'Figlio, non dimenticare le lacrime di tua madre'. Il segno delle lacrime di Maria e del Sangue dell'Agnello nell'interpretazione del parocco di S. Agostino al tempo dei Fatti (Udine: Segno, 1998), pp. 15-16.
105. Interview with Constantino Perucci, chairman of the Movimento d'Amore in Manduria, 8 December 2000.
106. This is developed in Margry, 'La terra di nessuno'.
107. See, for instance, M. van Uden et al. (eds) Bij geloof. Over bedevaarten en andere uitingen van religiositeit (Heerlen: UTP, 1991).
108. See for this region: Puglia, anno 1987 (Rome: ISTAT, 1991);
109. Puglia: turismo, storia, arte, folklore (Bari: M. Adda, 1980);
110. Ant. Beltramelli, Il Gargano (Bergamo, 1907);
111. S. Acquaviva and G. Eisermann, La montagna del sole (Turin: ERI, 1982).
112. G. de Rosa, Chiesa e religione popolare nel Mezzogiorno (Bari: Laterza, 1978), passim;
113. G. Cioffari et al., Agiografia in Puglia. I santi tra critica storica e devozione popolare (Bari: P. Malagrino, 1991).
114. See for these sanctuaries Giustino Farnedi, Guida ai santuari d'Italia 2000 (Casale Monferrato: Piemme, 2000), pp. 357-61.
115. Regarding this church, the architect and 'booming' San Giovanni Rotondo, see Stefano Mencherini, 'Miracolo economico', Lo Specchio, 17 February 2001, pp. 24-30.
116. For a description of the church, see The Voice of Padre Pio 30 (11) (2000): 21.
117. A similar vagueness with regard to figures exists for other great shrines as well: for example, at the shrine of Antony of Padua, at Padua, towards the end of the twentieth century 700,000 hosts were being distributed annually; this figure allows one more or less to distinguish the faithful from the tourists, who also come in large numbers because of the art-historical treasures in the church. The magazine Messaggero di Sant'Antonio has a print run of 800,000 in Italy; see Passa, Lacrime e sangue, pp. 97-8. At Loreto, in the basilica of La Santa Casa, just under 700,000 hosts were distributed annually during the 1990s (only in 1995, the jubilee marking the 700th year of S. Casa di Loreto, was it around 900,000). But there the cult leadership insists on multiplying this by the high factor of 6 to obtain the 'correct' total number of pilgrims: between 3,700,000 and 4,200,000 pilgrims per year; see 'Tabella del flusso dei pellegrini a Loreto', published by S. Casa di Loreto, 2000.
118. For instance, in Santi e santuari. Atlante dei personaggi e dei luoghi della fede, vol. 1 (Milan: Compagnia Generale Ed., 1979), p. 249, where they were then already writing of 'certamente alcuni milioni l'anno'.
119. See also the article on the role of the media from the Capuchins' perspective: Luciano Rotti, 'The beatification and the media', The Voice of Padre Pio 30 (5) (2000): 7-9.
120. For instance, 'L'ultimo miracolo. Padre pio piange lacrime di sangue', Gente Mese, mensile di politica, attualit e cultura 9 (9) (August 1994);
121. 'Padre Pio e la Madonna', Gente Mese, mensile dipolitica, attualità e cultura 11 (4) (April 1996).
122. 'Padre Pio e la Madonna'. Recently: 'Padre Pio in casa di Ranieri [di Monaco]', Gente, 21 December 2000, pp. 52-3
123. or, on the occasion of the death of the former queen, Maria José di Savoia, on her relations with Pio: Gente, 15 February 2001, pp. 36, 38.
124. Gerardo di Flumeri, I gruppi di preghiera di Padre Pio. Linee teologiche e suggerimenti metodologici (San Giovanni Rotondo: Ed. Padre Pio, 1993);
125. Nello Castello, I gruppi di preghiera di Padre Pio (San Giovanni Rotondo, 1994);
126. Gentilis van Loon, Pater Pio. Een Simon van Cyrene voor onze tijd (Antwerp/'s-Hertogenbosch: Kapucijnen, 2000), pp. 73-8.
127. For this see L'Attività della Santa Sede nel 1999 (Vatican City: Ed. Vaticana, 2000), pp. 240-3;
128. L'Osservatore Romano supplemento ('Giovanni Paolo II proclama beato Padre Pio da Pietrelcina'), 1 May 1999;
129. Marc Leijendekker, 'Massaie opkomst bij zaligverklaring padre Pio in Rome', NRC-Handelsblad, 3 May 1999;
130. Umberto Rosso, 'Rutelli, omaggio a padre Pio', La Repubblica, 21 December 2000, p. 22. This was not his first strategic manoeuvre of that nature; in 1995, thirteen years after being married in the municipal registry office, he went to church to have the marriage celebrated there too.
131. Cf. on the film and the conversion of the star, Emilia Costantini, 'Con Padre Pio ho trovato la fede', Corriere della Sera, 15 April 2000, p. 38.
132. Produced by Rai in cooperation with Vide-Lux, directed by Giulio Base, broadcast on 11 and 12 November 2000.
133. A similar biographical film, directed by Carlo Carlei and starring Sergio Castellito, was broadcast on 17 and 19 April 2000, on Mediaset's Canale 5, drawing 12.5 million viewers (46 per cent of all viewers in Italy); see International Herald Tribune, 'Italy Daily' supplement 21 April 2000. Interrupting a film about 'such a great saint' for advertising was found wrong and insulting; see press release ADNKronos, 18 April 2000. The film was repeated on 23 and 24 April 2001.
134. 'Verkiezing katholiek van de eeuw', Katholiek Nieuwsblad, 31 December 1999. Ahead of Pio were Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa and Pope John XXIII.
135. Santi e santuari, vol. 1, pp. 240-51;
136. even in a book that is devoted just to Marian shrines, the Marian tradition at San Giovanni Rotondo is given no space, while the text deals with Pio: Domenico Marcucci, Santuari Mariani d'italia. Storia, fede, arte (Rome: Paoline, 1983), p. 82.
137. Farnedi, Guida ai santuari d'Italia 2000, pp. 359-60;
138. Cordier, Guida ai luoghi miracolosi d'Italia, pp. 338-9.
139. Girolamo Grillo, Our Lady Weeps. Report on Civitavecchia. Luciano Lincetto in Conversation with Bishop Girolamo Grillo (Toronto: Ave Maria Press, 1998), pp. vi, 22-4.
140. See also the observations by journalist Martin Page, 'Padre Pio, superstar', The Tablet, 19/26 December 1998, pp. 1688-9.
141. Older prints are removed or often end up more or less behind a Pio print; see for instance: Page, 'Padre Pio, superstar', p. 1688.
142. Cf. also the following books about Pio: Felice Spaccucci, L'Ecce Homo del Gargano (Naples, 1971);
143. Giuseppe Pagnossin, Il Calvario di Padre Pio (Padua, 1978).
144. Piero Mantero (ed.) Foto 'soprannaturali'. Il primo catalogo d'immagini sui segni dei tempi (Udine: Segno, 1989, 1995), pp. 57-60.
145. Patrons of churches must be formally canonized; regarding this affair, see further: 'Padre Pio: A Roma nascerà prima parrochia con sue nome', ANSA press release, 21 September 2000.
146. 'Esposte reliqui di Padre Pio', La Repubblica, 23 October 2000; press release DEA, 22 October 2000. In the reliquary, temporarily transferred from San Giovanni Rotondo, were displayed two teeth, two cotton wads with blood, several scabs from the stigmata, several hairs and a piece of cloth with blood from the wound on his ribcage.
147. Scarvaglieri, Pellegrinaggio ed esperienza religiosa, pp. 126-7, 362-5: in 1985 46 per cent of the Italian visitors carne from the south of the country, 19 per cent from the middle and 35 per cent from the north.