Posted on 10/25/2007 9:24:05 AM PDT by NYer
The Other Christ: Padre Pio and 19th Century Italy, by the historian Sergio Luzzatto, draws on a document found in the Vatican's archive.
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The document reveals the testimony of a pharmacist who said that the young Padre Pio bought four grams of carbolic acid in 1919.
"I was an admirer of Padre Pio and I met him for the first time on 31 July 1919," wrote Maria De Vito.
She claimed to have spent a month with the priest in the southern town of San Giovanni Rotondo, seeing him often.
"Padre Pio called me to him in complete secrecy and telling me not to tell his fellow brothers, he gave me personally an empty bottle, and asked if I would act as a chauffeur to transport it back from Foggia to San Giovanni Rotondo with four grams of pure carbolic acid.
"He explained that the acid was for disinfecting syringes for injections. He also asked for other things, such as Valda pastilles."
The testimony was originally presented to the Vatican by the Archbishop of Manfredonia, Pasquale Gagliardi, as proof that Padre Pio caused his own stigmata with acid.
It was examined by the Holy See during the beatification process of Padre Pio and apparently dismissed.
Padre Pio, whose real name was Francesco Forgione, died in 1968. He was made a saint in 2002. A recent survey in Italy showed that more people prayed to him than to Jesus or the Virgin Mary. He exhibited stigmata throughout his life, starting in 1911.
The new allegations were greeted with an instant dismissal from his supporters. The Catholic Anti-Defamation League said Mr Luzzatto was a liar and was "spreading anti-Catholic libels".
Pietro Siffi, the president of the League, said: "We would like to remind Mr Luzzatto that according to Catholic doctrine, canonisation carries with it papal infallibility.
"We would like to suggest to Mr Luzzatto that he dedicates his energies to studying religion properly."
Okay, you don’t do bible study that much.
You ask others to pray for you because God tells us that it has an effect and gives us examples - for ex. asking the elders of a church to come and pray over a sick person. However, if you READ THE BIBLE EXAMPLES you find that every example where a person asks another to pray for them, they are both physically alive on earth, and they are both living people, body and soul together!!!! There are NO examples where one person is physically alive asking a person that is not physically alive. Nobody was ever instructed or encouraged by Christ or any apostle to ask dead Christians to intercede for them.
And don’t try to say ‘but the dead Christians are alive in Christ’ - all that would prove is that you don’t understand the difference between when someone uses the term to mean physically dead as opposed to spiritually dead.
The Saints and Angels are not dead.
Great reply!
This is why you pray to the Father and Jesus. They are not dead.
No where in the new testament are prayers offered to people, living or dead.
Have you looked up the definition of necromancy? Have you read the life of Padre Pio? Do you consider it your mission to convert Catholics, online? If not, why are you being so rude? Who asked you?
Why don’t you get off this thread? You’re giving protestants a bad name, along with a few of your friends. As far as I know, no one has invited you to share your special wisdom here.
But there are many directed at the saint/s themselves, which is why it is puzzling to me.
Why can’t you pray straight to God through Jesus alone?
I’m sick and tired of clicking on an interesting Catholic subject thread, and finding anti-Catholic arguments all over it. Isn’t there some kind of rule about this?
It began on post 19 0n this thread and has not let up. Can we get some kind of line drawn here, so that the original subject of the thread can be discussed without getting called names and being proselytized by people who have nothing but contempt for our church?
Then don't ever ask for prayers nor accept the prayers of anyone on earth because it would be worthless.
Does this make sense to you?
Yeah, I asked that at post 20 and here we are at 170...
I’m out. You guys can pray to whomever you want. I pray only to Jesus Christ. I ask close people to pray for me, but all those people are in the body, and I can actually communicate with them by calling them and having a two-way conversation, or write them (like Paul) and ask them to pray for me. I don’t ask departed Christians to pray for me because they can’t do anything for themselves, or for me.
If you want to pray to Christians no longer on this earth, whatever, but it is not biblical. No examples of this practice being done, taught or encouraged by Christ or the apostles. Show me the verses.
No, I get the different meanings of the word ‘pray’. :-)
My husband is from India, and he’s a Hindu, as is his family. No offense intended, but they also ask for intercessory prayers, pray to statues and pictures of their favorite gods, etc. I consider their religion to have idol worship in its center (I once got in trouble for pointing at a statue and asking who it was, and I ‘offended’ that particular god to my in-laws). Catholics also pray to statues of their favorite saints (I attended Catholic church as a child when we lived in Boston, although we were protestants) but it isn’t considered idol worship, correct?
Is it considered ‘rude’ or sacrilegious to point at a Catholic saint’s picture or statue? Or are they considered just statues...but then why is such a fuss made over them by some people?
I find these religious studies fascinating. Thanks for any input.
Oh, but when they are in heaven, they hear our prayers.
Where are you getting your information.
BTW, what do you think about stigmata and Padre Pio. Why don’t you get back to the subject or say, “Bye, bye.”
You don't even use the whole Bible. You don't have any respect for the subject. Go find some other thread to take off subject.
**They also can no longer pray for you, or make any intercession for you.**
How do you know for sure?
How whose authority do you say this?
BTW, you did not answer my questions.
Has someone in your family died? Did you go to the funeral?
I wasn’t the one who started to drift off-topic. Read NYer’s post answer. I was asking a question to his reply.
Yes I have gone to funerals. And this proves what?
You can find answers to these questions elsewhere on line, but you likely cannot be rude or persistent about it.
Why don’t you go use google, or the Catholic encyclopedia? This thread is about Padre Pio.
**I wasn’t the one who started to drift off-topic. Read NYer’s post answer. I was asking a question to his reply.**
When you reference another FReeper you need to put their name in the “To” space.
Good-bye!
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