Padre Pio, an inner light revealed by unpublished photos

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56 years after his death in 1968, Padre Pio remains a popular and mysterious figure. With the support of the Dicasteries of Communication and Education and Culture, ten photos of the Capuchin monk were presented at the Vatican on Monday, in the presence of their author, Elia Stelluto, who was close to Padre Pio since childhood and accompanied him for more of a quarter of a century

“Padre Pio was not just a spiritual father… For me he was my father!” Elia Stelluto tells Aleteia about her special bond with Padre Pio. Born in 1935 in San Giovanni Rotondo, the 90-year-old man retains vivid memories of his childhood near the Capuchin convent, where he developed a close bond with the monk, who already enjoyed a reputation for holiness in life. “I grew up with him since 1942, when I became an altar boy at the age of seven and accompanied him to Mass,” he recalls.

After a “childhood of misery”, at the end of which he tried his luck with photography to survive, Elia emigrated to Argentina in 1954 with the rest of his family to join his father and older brother, who had left to try their luck some years before. But the young man was haunted by the memory of Padre Pio ‘s tears during his last meeting before his Latin American exile. Life in Argentina was certainly more comfortable, but he felt the call to return to his roots.

Six months later, he crossed the Atlantic in the opposite direction, returning definitively to San Giovanni Rotondo. Although he was still a minor, he received the active help of the Italian consul in Buenos Aires, who confided to him that he was a great admirer of the Capuchin monk: not only did he facilitate the administrative procedures so that Elia could return to his country of origin, but, Surprisingly, the diplomat himself was in charge of convincing his parents to let him return to Italy. Elia would not see his family again until 30 years later, and his relatives would end up returning to San Giovanni Rotondo, including his “Argentinian” older brother, who is still alive and in a few days will celebrate his centenary. .

After his return, Elia Stelluto returned to photograph Padre Pio in his daily life… despite a difficult first experience. “The first time I tried to photograph Padre Pio during the celebration of Mass, he got angry and demanded that the carabinieri come and stop me. I went to see him after the celebration to ask for forgiveness,” he recalls, amused by the mixture of firmness and benevolence that emanated from the monk.

Earn the Father’s Trust

Over the years, despite working without flash and with candles as the only light, Elia has managed to “show the saint in all his simplicity.” Despite the dark atmosphere of the convent, which logically should have rendered the photos with the silver technique of the time useless, a strange light emanates from the saint’s face. “I’m not strong, but they are mysterious photos… Padre Pio was luminous, and that has no explanation,” he says.

10th-anniversary-of-the-Saint-Pio-Foundation-Photo-by-Elia-Stelluto-via-Saint-Pio-Foundation

© Photo by Elia Stelluto via Saint Pio Foundation

Fifty-six years after photographing him at his last Mass, Elia Stelluto continues to guard an extraordinary archive, from which these ten new photos have been extracted, made available to the public on the website ilverosanpio.org . The initiative came from the President of the San Pío Foundation, an organization based in the United States and chaired by the Italian opera singer Luciano Lamonarca, who has lived in New York for 15 years.

This artist attributes to the intercession of Padre Pio the “miracle” of the birth of his son Sebastian, conceived with his wife at a time when doctors had told them that there would be no cure for their infertility. Fascinated by the Capuchin monk, the Italian tenor has set music to the “Song of Saint Pius”, composed at the time of his death, in 1968, and travels the world to make known this saint who fascinates and moves him. .

“In every country there are many people who will never be able to come to Pietrelcina and San Giovanni Rotondo, but it is up to us to make the saint accessible to them,” he explains to Aleteia.

John Paul II and Padre Pio united in suffering

10th-anniversary-of-the-Saint-Pio-Foundation-Photo-by-Elia-Stelluto-via-Saint-Pio-Foundation

© Photo by Elia Stelluto via Saint Pio Foundation

Luciano Lamonarca points out that the Capuchin monk “also invites us to reflect on our relationship with suffering. Today we try to get rid of the slightest headache, the slightest discomfort. Padre Pio teaches us, however, to suffer with decency, to offer our suffering to the Lord, because everyone suffers. In this sense, we are going against the current, but we entrust ourselves to Saint Pius to help Catholics and non-Catholics to live with dignity,” he insists.

The presentation of these photos took place in the Vatican on the tenth anniversary of the canonization of John Paul II, a Pope whose life was marked by suffering, and who maintained a close relationship with Padre Pio after meeting him in San Giovanni Rotondo in 1948. Andrea Tornielli, editorial director of Vatican Media, recalled the impact of the visit of the young abbot Karol Wojtyla. He “marked his life, with a relationship that he continued, also on a mystical level, as many letters attest.” From Krakow, Archbishop Wojtyla asked Padre Pio for prayers and thanks,” explains the Italian journalist, recalling that this link was not evident in a context of great distrust in the Vatican towards this religious, whom some accused of being an impostor.

The Capuchin monk was “a mystic, always obedient to the Church, despite all the attacks that were made against it. He shows that holiness also means accepting decisions that may seem difficult and incomprehensible,” said Andrea Tornielli.

John Paul II put an end to the debate by beatifying Padre Pio in 1999 and canonizing him in 2002. He is, therefore, “a saint who remains current, a saint of the people, who has entered the collective imagination.” This link between Karol Wojtyla and Padre Pio was decisive, as Elia Stelluto recognizes.

“There was a lot of opposition to him within the Church. If it had not been for John Paul II, Padre Pio would not have been named a saint,” says the man who remains one of the last witnesses of this extraordinary spiritual adventure.

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