Church exhumes body after 40 years just so the faithful can view it

MSNBC published a Reuters newswire today announcing when the exhumed body of a revered mystic monk would be put in a glass coffin and displayed in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy on Thursday. Some 750,000 people are expected to view the body of Padre Pio, who died in 1968.

According to the wire, "Padre Pio's body was exhumed from a crypt on March 3 and found to be in 'fair condition' after 40 years." A team of medical examiners and biochemists are working to preserve and reconstruct the body for display, which apparently can be viewed through a registration-based process.

• The body of the friar is said to have had the stigmata — the wounds of Jesus' crucifixion on his hands and feet.
• The monk is said to have wrestled with the devil one night in his monastery cell.
• He was made a saint in 2002 after the church said it had found evidence that the miraculous cure of a sick woman was the result of intercession by the dead monk.

See http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24278009/

The body of Padre Pio-- who was canonized by Pope John Paul II (bio - news) in 2002-- is being transferred to a new shrine in San Giovanni Rotondo, where he lived. His remains will be exposed for veneration there. Archbishop D'Ambrosio overcame objections from some of Padre Pio's relatives to exhume the saint's body, making it available for veneration during the 40th anniversary of his death. -- Catholic World Newshttp://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=56972

http://www.zenit.org/article-21974?l=english
The friars denied that the remains would be transferred from the sanctuary crypt to a new spacious and ultra modern church nearby at San Giovanni Rotondo designed by the world renowned Italian architect Renzo Piano.
The exhumation - the first time the tomb had been opened since Padre Pio's death in 1968 - was approved by the Vatican despite opposition from some of the saint's most ardent followers. Padre Pio's relatives had threatened to take the local archbishop to court if the corpse was exhumed, and a group of devotees had also threatened legal action.
Italian reports said the exhumation had been carried out in the middle of the night to avoid possible protests and disruptions. The saint's body had then been taken to a "secret location" to protect it both from protesters trying to retrieve it, and from "unscrupulous relic hunters".
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article3474101.ece

Archbishop Domenico D'Ambrosio said that his plan has the approval of the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints. He explained that he saw a "duty to allow future generations the chance to venerate the mortal remains of St. Pio of Pietrelcina." Part of the reason for the exhumation, he said, is to ensure proper preservation of those remains. Padre Pio, who lived from 1887 to 1968, gained an international reputation for holiness during his lifetime. Thousands of people reported miracles after meeting with the famous monk, who apparently enjoyed extraordinary spiritual gifts including the stigmata and discernment of souls. The reports of miracles attributed to his intercession multiplied after his death, and devotion to Padre Pio continued to spread.
http://theworldimho.blogspot.com/2008/01/padre-pios-body-to-be-exhumed-venerated.html


Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, told Il Giornale yesterday that the exhumation was a standard procedure to check on the state of the body of a beatified or canonised person, and had been undertaken in 2001 on the body of the Pope John XXIII, who died in 1963 and was beatified, one step before sainthood.

The practice has its origins in the need to confirm that tombs of saints-to-be contain the right body. Check-ups on the body's state of preservation and the removal of relics are reasons given by applicants to the congregation for later exhumations.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jan/08/italy.catholicism

Padre Pio, a mystic Capuchin monk who had an enormous following in Italy and abroad, died in 1968 after living for decades with inexplicable, bleeding wounds on his hands and feet, like the wounds Jesus suffered at crucifixion. Pope John Paul II made him a saint in 2002.
Church officials wanted to exhume the body so the faithful can pray before it this year, the 40th anniversary of his death. They also wanted to take measures to ensure it was well preserved.
D'Ambrosio said there was no sign of the so-called stigmata on his limbs after an initial examination Sunday and Monday. But otherwise, the body had been "conserved well," he said.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/03/news/Italy-Monk-Unearthed.php


"Padre Pio's fingernails are as if he had just had a manicure," D'Ambrosio said.