The Body of Saint Pio

Padre Pio died on 23 September 1968 at the Capuchin friary of San Giovanni Rotondo, in the Gargano mountains of southern Italy, where he had lived since 1916. He was buried in the crypt of the friary church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, and pilgrims came in great numbers to pray at his tomb.

In March 2008, forty years after his death, his body was exhumed. It was found in fair condition, and from April 2008 it was exposed for veneration in a glass casket, the face covered with a lifelike silicone mask. In 2010 the body was moved to the crypt of the vast new Church of Saint Pio, designed by the architect Renzo Piano and consecrated in 2004. Millions of pilgrims come every year.

In February 2016, during the Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis asked that the body of Padre Pio, with that of Saint Leopold Mandić, another great Capuchin confessor, be brought to Rome. Tens of thousands of people filed past in Saint Peter’s Basilica to pray before the man who had spent so much of his life in the confessional.

Near the shrine stands the great hospital he founded, the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, still one of the most important hospitals in southern Italy.

Where

Church of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (the crypt), Sanctuary of Saint Pio, San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy

When to see it

In a glass casket in the crypt of the Church of Saint Pio, open daily.

Map

Find it on OpenStreetMap

Read about

Saint Pio of Pietrelcina