A statement from the Director of Holy See Press Office, Greg Burke, says that Holy Father Pope Francis is to visit the Italian towns of Pietrelcina and San Giovanni Rotondo on 17th March 2018. The year marks the 100th anniversary of Padre Pio of Pietrelcina receiving the stigmata as well as the 50th anniversary of his death.
His Holiness Pope Francis follows in the footsteps of Pope St. John Paul II, who visited San Giovanni Rotondo on 23rd May 1987 and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who travelled there on 21st June 2009. During the Jubilee Year of Mercy, Pope Francis had requested that Padre Pio’s reliquary be present in St. Peter’s Basilica for Asha Wednesday.
St. Pio was born in Pietrelcina on 25th May 1887 and died on 23rd September 1968 at his Capuchin monastery in San Giovanni Rotondo. St. Pio’s remains were exposed for veneration from 8-14 February 2016.
