Speechless in San Giovanni
By Brandon Gates
Holy water and miracle oil — some of the many Pio-related souvenirs for sale in San Giovanni Rotondo. | Photo by Andrea Palatnik.
My first-time visit to San Giovanni Rotondo is possibly one of the few things that have left me speechless. I hesitantly say the city is “where Catholicism and cult meet.” My reservation, you ask? The aforementioned phrase does not properly depict what I witnessed — yet I don’t know how to articulate this experience differently.
As a practicing catholic, many of my fellow believers may wonder why I am being overtly critical of this “mecca” that many pilgrims visit year-round. However, if I may loosely quote scripture, there should be no man or other god placed ahead of God. But in this town of nearly 27,000 people, you can’t help but feel that Padre Pio has been added to the Holy Trinity…
Hundreds of statues decorate the town in almost every color and size imaginable, including one I found in a souvenir shop that was just as tall as me. People who have traveled near and far to celebrate Pio, bow and kneel at just about every painting, pray the rosary and even leave pictures of relatives and varied sums of euros as they believe problems and worries will be reconciled because of their faithful visit to this southern Italian town. While I do have a clear understanding of what Padre Pio meant and continues to mean for some catholics — possibly because we conducted a thorough study of him in our Covering Religion class this semester — it would be remiss not to point out the striking (and borderline offensive, depending on who you ask) similarities in the reverence of this saint and the reverence of God.
Here is where christians and non-christians alike attack Catholicism and rightfully so. As one of only two catholics in the Covering Religion seminar, fully aware and fully accepting of the great miracles performed by this man, even I felt a little uneasy as I entered the colossal, modern church where Saint Pio’s tomb lies. There are more images of Padre Pio than Jesus, himself.
However, in the same eerie iridescent light, I cannot deny the amazing devotion I witnessed during my visit to this peculiar town. For many, Padre Pio is a great example of a modern man who devoted his life to God by helping as many people as he could, before his death in 1968, and this is seen by their willingness to travel all over for a few seconds to touch his tomb.
Whether you believe that Saint Pio bore the stigmata on his hands or not, doesn’t change the fact that this small town on a hill has helped thousands of people.
The Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza hospital — which literally translates as the Home for the Relief of Suffering — serves hundreds of patients yearly, of whom many do not have to pay for services. As we walked through the facilities, which included two chapels within the hospital, we saw much faith and hope in Padre Pio’s miracles. A nun walked down the hall praying aloud as she walked past the hospital beds of several patients — not a sight you’d notice in a regular hospital; but soothing nonetheless.
I still caution that Saint Pio’s pedestal may be too high, but if belief in a man can create this much good, then maybe there is some reason to revere him.
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