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1. There's no doubt about us! We Catholics bring a certain sense of the macabre into the religious conversation.
   
   I spent six years with the Caps here in Australia and have vivid memories of the hallway of the seminary friary in Plumpton with its "honour guard" of dead capuchins. They all looked rather sad and were usually pictured holding a skull or a cross.Not too much of the joyous franciscan in that hallway.
   
   Let the humidity do its job on Pio.I don't believe "generations of future worshippers" really need this spectacle to inspire Gospel living.
   
   Trivia, I onow, but could someone tell the Vatican official who issued the statement that Pio was a Franciscan Friar, not a monk.Francis would be spinning in his grave if the humidity hasn't got to him.

   Posted By: Tony Robertson

2. St. Padre Pio's body should've been left in the tomb he himself chose and be allowed to rest in peace. There are ample photos of him, no need to 'conserve' his corpse for public viewing. Had his body been entirely incorrupt, then perhaps it would be a different story. But this is more of a grisly tampering with the poor man's remains.

   Posted By: Stan

3. Is it hard to believe that the Padre Pio Association is entering into litigation over the exhumation and display of the St Pio's body. This is a common practice in Italy. The saint himself was always submissive to the decisions of Church authorities. I daresay he would be submissive over the moving of his remains. Why should the body not be in a place more accessible to the seven million pilgrims who travel each year to San Giovanni Rotondo? Nobody complained when the body of Blessed John XXIII was exhumed and placed under an altar in St Peter's Basilica.

   Posted By: Fr Ronan Kilgannon

4. I will visit Padre Pio anywhere! I look forward to making the trip to Italy. The LAST thing he would want is fighting in or out of court over HIM! Our love for him unites us. Let's continue to revere his memory in peace.

   Posted By: michele

5. Well, as of 3-15-2008, the pope has sent a "relic" of Padre Pio to a brand new church, first church ever to open in Qatar. This is big news, having a Catholic church in Qatar, but sending a relic of Padre Pio just days after they dug him up, sounds as if they cut off a piece of Pio. This is bad stuff, imo

   Posted By: jenny

6. Padre Pio's life was always a point of controversy, GOD'S gift to us, I wish I could go just to be in the presence of his remains, I pray people will allow him GOD'S will and venerate his blessed remains. He is a great gift for all of mankind. Padre Pio send us your blessings from heaven above.

   Posted By: George Zaragoza

7. This is my true Padre Pio experience
   Michael G Casey email michaelgcasey@hotmail.com
   Email michaelgcasey@hotmail.com
   Web http://groups.msn.com/michaelgcaseywritingsite
   
   
   
   Padre Pio and Me ©
   
   By
   
   
   Michael Casey
   
   
   
   It’s a contradiction in terms immediately , how can I copyright a Saint? A brand new saint at that . I first heard of him through some religious reading I did . I feel embarrassed to admit it , but I am a practising Catholic and though it's not fashionable to have any Faith, it's mine so I admit it . Immediately the prejudice begins , but if I WERE A Jew or a Muslim , it would be the same . I do feel that my Catholic tastes have given me a broader outlook on life , as have my eclectic tastes and rubbing shoulders with a wide variety of people .
   
   But I want to talk about Padre Pio . I had a crisis and was reading about him at the time , so I said my prayers to him and the way forward was revealed . Though Padre Pio always says go Higher , he is just a stepping stone on the way to a better place . What is so hard to understand about Padre Pio is how he suffered . He had the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune . Condemned by his own superiors , made to be quiet for a decade and so forth . Science Fiction teaches or rather amuses us about Time Travel , but with Padre Pio it really happened , he wanted to share in Christ’s agony so he thought , what if he too could have and suffer the wounds on that day of Crucifixion . So it came to pass that he suffered for 50years . He had the indignity of medical examinations and of being thought to be just a mental patient , but his work and life proved his holiness .
   
   So it’s nearly 1990 and I hear about him and read a few books , its hard to understand the value of suffering in this age of quick fix pain killers and the let's have a fix , whatever the fix might be , sex, drugs and rock and roll or whatever . It's like suddenly studying again after years of lying fallow , the learning curve is enormous . So too is it with Padre Pio , the idea behind his life is enormous , but so too is the capacity for love and help .
   My favourite story is how Padre Pio explains that The Wedding Feast at Cena happened because Jesus could not refuse his mother . Very Italian , or Irish or Spanish and so on , but could any of us refuse our mothers?
   
   So I thought more about what Padre Pio said , and his motto of "Pray Hope Don’t Worry" became my own . Carpe Diem is another good motto but perhaps this can be used by any Hedonist , or other kind of selfish person .Padre Pio reminds us to pray and that prayer is not wasted , its perfume that is never wasted is a phrase I like . My mother always used to say that if you couldn’t sleep you should say the Rosary , and she was right . Though in today's world an hour on the Internet or with MTV might do the trick .
   
   
   

   Posted By: michael casey

8. Somehow, I do not think the Saint would want his body to be viewed. Let us pray to his spirit.

   Posted By: Paula Grodecki

9. Why don't we pray to Padre Pio and ask him what he thinks about the public viewing of his body. Maybe he will enlighten us.

   Posted By: Bee

10. This is all about making money! With all the defections from regular Sunday attendance, the thousands of churches that have closed since the 1960s and the child abuse litigation suits that have cost millions of dollars against the church, funds are needed and quickly. As one of your correspondents rightly states here - we have plenty of memorabilia of my own personal favourite among the saints. We do not really need his cadaver to enhance The Faith. Moreover, as he was very traditional, I doubt if he would have liked the minimalist mausoleum into which his venerable corpse has been put on public display. This is rather insulting. There are also accusations against it as being masonic in design and content. This whole affair has a familiar corrupt odour about it.

    Posted By: HMacK

11. Padre Pio Supporters ??? I don't think they are supporting. A lawsuit is unbiblical even. There are many STUPID people in the world. Not me of course. But then I am not suing my own organization to keep them from honouring the one they want to honor. Makes sense to ........no one.

    Posted By: Michael Shannon

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