Fr Patrick Briscoe OP When I think about the saints most beloved by modern Catholics, Padre Pio tops the list. His weathered face and brown Capuchin habit are iconic. His remarkable personal story, his strong-willed personality and the intensity of his spiritual life are absolutely captivating. But here’s the thing: I think most people get…
Gina Christian A film making its US and streaming debut recounts the life of a beloved 20th-century saint – and the movie’s star told OSV News he “fell in love with Christ” to prepare for the part. Actor Shia LaBeouf portrays St Pio of Pietrelcina in the new drama Padre Pio, which premiered at last…
The Diocese of Down and Connor brought relics of St Padre Pio to the diocese from November 6-11 to mark 20 years since he was declared a saint. Fr Brian Watters CC of St Peter’s Cathedral Parish, in Belfast, had the relics in the cathedral for three days from November 6. “The numbers who came…
The mother of 2020 Late Late Toy Show star Saoírse Ruane who was diagnosed twice with life-threatening tumours, said she feels a strong connection to Padre Pio after praying to him before her daughter’s major surgery. Roseanna Ruane spoke of hearing Saoírse’s diagnosis of Osteosarcoma and subsequent treatments more than two years ago, and then…
Staff reporter American actor and Hollywood star Shia LaBeouf went on pilgrimage to the hometown of Padre Pio as part of his preparations to play the Italian saint in an upcoming biopic. Mr LaBeouf, who starred in the Transformers franchise, visited San Giovani Rotondo where Padre Pio lived and served from 1916 until his death…
Actor Shia LaBeouf has been cast as Padre Pio for a film which will focus on the life of the Italian saint. Veteran actor Willem Dafoe is also set to receive a role in the movie. A former Disney Channel star, Mr LaBeouf, 35, recently appeared in a video with a group of Franciscans, as…
We have to keep hoping in the midst of crises and in the face of our fears, writes Fr Thomas Casey SJ “They’re not ornaments you know,” Padre Pio once exclaimed to a zealous pilgrim who grabbed his hands so firmly that the Capuchin saint began to writhe in pain. Padre Pio suffered from the…
“It seems to be a fact,” wrote Flannery O’Connor in July 1955, “that you have to suffer as much from the Church as for it but if you believe in the divinity of Christ, you have to cherish the world at the same time that you struggle to endure it.” The American author’s words could…
The Capuchin saint shocked the world by dedicating his life wholly to God, writes Claire Giangravè During a visit on Saturday, March 17, to the southern Italian town of Pietrelcina, the birthplace of Padre Pio, and San Giovanni Rotondo, where the famous Capuchin stigmatic friar lived for more than 50 years, Pope Francis invited…
Irish links to the famous Capuchin date back to the 1920s, writes Colm Keane To the Irish setting out for San Giovanni Rotondo in the 1950s, it must have felt like the ultimate pilgrimage. They first travelled long journeys by air in old prop planes. They then wound their way by slow trains and…
Chai Brady