Padre Pio

This past month the body of Padre Pio was exhumed and put in a glass coffin in the town of San Giovanni Rotondo in Puglia. We were recently in Puglia and I had hoped that we could visit this town, not necessarily to see Padre Pio, but to see the shrine church designed by Renzo Piano. (Renzo Piano has recently designed two projects in New York City: the Morgan Library atrium, on Madison Ave. at 36th Street, and the New York Times building on 8th Avenue.

We never made it to San Giovanni Rotondo, but during our trip we "encountered" Padre Pio every day. It has been reported that Padre Pio is the most popular saint in Italy, with more people praying to him than even the Virgin Mary.

Here are some pictures of Padre Pio as we saw him in Puglia.