St. Padre Pio and St. Pope John Paul II

“By his life given wholly to prayer and to listening to his brothers and sisters, Padre Pio, this humble Capuchin friar, astonished the world.” – St. Pope John Paul II

It was in the spring of 1947 that Pope John Paul II (Fr.Karol Wojtyla) made a trip to San Giovanni Rotondo to visit Padre Pio. At that time, Padre Pio already had the stigmata for thirty years.

As a newly ordained priest, Fr. Karol Wojtyla was sent from Cracow, Poland to Rome and enrolled at the Angelicum University to complete his post- ordination studies in theology. During his Easter vacation in 1947, twenty-seven year old Fr. Wojtyla went to San Giovanni Rotondo. He attended Padre Pio’s early morning Mass, recited the Angelus with him at noon, made his confession to Padre Pio, and attended the benediction service in the evening.

In 1962, as a newly ordained bishop, Karol Wojtyla attended the Vatican Council II in Rome. He received word that a friend, Wanda Poltawska M.D., was dying of cancer. Dr. Poltawska used to collaborate in the pastoral work of the bishop and had been a great help to the diocese in Cracow.

For many years Bishop Wojtyla had been a friend of the family. He wrote a letter to Padre Pio asking for his prayers. He asked Angelo Battisti, a Vatican worker who often went to San Giovanni Rotondo to see Padre Pio, to deliver the letter.

In the letter which he wrote in Latin, he said, “Venerable Father, I ask that you pray for a 40 year old mother of four little girls, in Cracow, Poland, who during the last war spent five years in a concentration camp in Germany and who is now in very grave danger related to her health and possibly may die because of cancer that God may extend His mercy to this woman and her family in the presence of the Most Blessed Virgin. Most obligated in Christ, Karol Wojtyla.”

(Source: St. Padre Pio Newsletter, Volume 1, Issue 18)
Feast Day of St. Padre Pio Schedule of Masses on September 23, 2014 in Davao City:

– 10:00 am at St. Padre Pio Spirituality Center at Malagamot Hills, Panacan, Davao City
– 5:30 pm at Sacred Heart Parish, Bo. Obrero, Davao City (To be continued next issue)