Padre Pio 'faked his stigmata with acid'

Padre Pio exhibited stigmata throughout his life, starting in 1911

Padre Pio, Italy's most-loved saint, faked his stigmata by pouring carbolic acid on his hands, according to a new book.

For those who may not know what a stigmata is, I offer the following:

Stigmata are bodily marks, sores, or sensations of pain in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus. The term originates from the line at the end of Saint Paul's Letter to the Galatians where he says, "I bear on my body the marks of Jesus," with "marks" in the Latin Vulgate rendered as "stigmata." An individual bearing stigmata is referred to as a stigmatic.

The causes of stigmata are the subject of considerable debate. Some contend that they are miraculous, while others argue they are hoaxes or can be explained medically.
Stigmata are primarily associated with the Roman Catholic faith. Many reported stigmatics are members of Catholic religious orders. The majority of reported stigmatics are female.[1

According to documents:

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.

To read the enite report follow this link:Pio

Dr James White has posted the following response on his blog which can be found at this link: AOMIN

James R. White

I was just directed to this article (ht: Plaidman!) alleging that Francesco Forgione, aka, "Padre Pio," a "saint" so popular in Italy that a recent survey said more people there pray to him than to Jesus or Mary (!), faked his "stigmata" using carbolic acid. While that is all very interesting, what I found most intriguing was the reaction of the legions of people dedicated to "Padre Pio."

Now remember, they aren't worshipping the man, see, they are only praying to him and asking for his intercession and things like that. And Rome has assured us, infallibly even, that prayer is not worship and dulia is not worship and we don't need to worry about all this idolatry stuff because, as Patrick Madrid mentioned in our debate, folks back in the past have had problems with idolatry, but we don't have the same problems today, so that is why we do not have to worry about those texts in the Bible that prohibit such things. But anyway, note the response to even daring to suggest that Padre Pio might just have been faking his alleged godliness:

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."

That can't be how anyone would respond to such an allegation, is it? Surely not! I mean, we have documented repeatedly how fair and even handed Roman Catholic apologists are in responding to criticism and refutation, so this is truly amazing, isn't it? Excuse me while I extract my tongue from my cheek.