Word: rotondo
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Died. Padre Pio, 81, the Capuchin friar whose body was said to bear the stigmata, or the wounds inflicted on Christ during his passion; of a heart attack; in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy. Blood first appeared on his hands, feet and side 50 years ago and, though the Vatican never officially considered his wounds of divine origin, Pio (born Francesco Forgione) attracted millions of pilgrims who came to his monastery in San Giovanni in hopes of seeing...
Such was the situation in the moun tain town of San Giovanni Rotondo, not far from Foggia in southeastern Italy. Here was a shrine to a saint who was not only popular but who provided the extra added attraction of being alive as well. Padre Pio was not officially a saint; to qualify for sainthood, one must be dead and have been responsible for at least four unchallenged miracles. But one day in 1918, the Capuchin friar looked at his hands and what he saw terrified him so that he fainted; the frightened monks who came to help crossed themselves...
...said that when money talks even the angels listen. In Rome rumors of thefts, mismanagement and waste began to filter into the Vatican. In 1960, Girolamo Bortignon, Capuchin Bishop of Padua, began to complain to powerful friends in the Holy See that the activities in San Giovanni Rotondo would bear an investigation. Pope John sent an emissary, Msgr. Carlo Maccari, to the busy shrine with directions to set things in order. Maccari saw plenty that needed to be set in order. He saw the dread Spiritual Daughters squabbling over a cushion on which the padre had knelt, finally tearing...