Lotto winning couple to visit Padre Pio shrine

Staff Reporter

A retired couple who collected almost €3million after winning a share in the Lotto jackpot are planning on treating themselves to a trip to the final resting place of Saint Padre Pio.

The married pair from Dun Laoghaire, Dublin scooped €2,905,586 in a recent National Lottery draw.

The lucky husband said he and his wife are just beginning to “live the dream”.

“I’m busily planning a cruise and a trip to Rome and definitely a trip to San Giovanni in Southern Italy, to visit the final resting place of Saint Padre Pio,” he said.

The Shrine of Padre Pio in San Giovanni Rotondo, southern Italy, is the one of the most visited Catholic shrines in the world.

It centres on the tomb of Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, a Capuchin friar, who became famous for bearing the stigmata for most of his life. He died in 1968 and was declared a saint in 2002.