On September 23, the Catholic Church remembers Francesco Forgione. Ordained a Capuchin Franciscan priest in 1910, Francesco took the religious name of Pio, and became the famed Stigmatic, Padre Pio – now St. Pio of Pietrelcina. Two persons in our living memory – Padre Pio and Mother Teresa of Calcutta – were widely acclaimed as living saints by the faithful during their lifetimes.
It was an extraordinary phenomenon, and especially so given the time of social and moral upheaval in which they lived – our time. In the history of the Church, the most tumultuous eras have also produced shining examples of holiness.
I share a painful anniversary date with Padre Pio. Though I always knew it, I was not really conscious of it until last year. September 23 is the day I was convicted and sent to prison. I was convicted not because of evidence – there wasn’t any – but because I am a priest. In the age of cynicism, that alone was suspect. On September 23, 1994 I was put into chains and began a prison sentence of sixty-seven years after three times declining a “plea deal” to serve only one to three years.
The date of my imprisonment was entirely unknown to a man in Pittsburgh who contacted me after reading an article about me in The Wall Street Journal (Dorothy Rabinowitz, “A Priest’s Story,” April 27/28, 2005). Last year he sent me a beautiful card with a photograph of Padre Pio writing a letter. The card included the promise of a novena of Masses to commence on Padre Pio’s feast day, September 23rd, the day he entered eternal life.
I began then to seek the intercession of St. Pio asking for the strengthening of my faith while in prison. The stigma of prison and its demeaning environment erodes faith and hope in too many ways to describe. It’s easy to have faith when suffering is lifted. It’s even easier when suffering is averted. Faith is a challenge when suffering is borne day after day, when it is unjust and there is no end in sight. Faith is especially difficult when suffering has a meaning and purpose known only to God. I asked Padre Pio to share my imprisonment with me, and to pray when I cannot.
Padre Pio was revered as privileged to bear on his living person the wounds of Christ. I don’t imagine this always felt like a privilege. It was not just His wounds that Pio bore. He heard confessions for up to sixteen hours a day, and still the lines formed at his confessional. People waited weeks to confess their sins through Padre Pio. It had to be exhausting. He spent his entire priestly life in that one place hearing confessions day after day for 50 years – from the day of his Stigmata in 1918 until his death on September 23, 1968.
I recently read a cynical commentary by a priest who referred to Padre Pio as a “confessional machine” and “not my model of priesthood.” It was sad and shortsighted. Padre Pio was a tireless and deeply sensitive confessor. He was a conduit of grace for many – including Pope John Paul II who was deeply moved by the power and simplicity of Padre Pio in the confessional when he, as the young Karol Wotyla, was a seminarian. In the suffering Padre Pio bore in his person, and in the burden of souls and sin he carried in his heart, Padre Pio was a model of priestly witness and sacrifice.
FALSE WITNESS
There is something else I share with Padre Pio, though it is not well known.
In 1960, at the age of 73, Padre Pio was accused of sexual misconduct. The accusation came not from the unnamed women he was alleged to have abused in the confessional, but from a brother priest who brought it forward without evidence or corroboration of any kind. It was a particularly devastating accusation. Any priest so accused would be entirely unable to offer a defense due to the seal of the confessional.
If Padre Pio had been a priest in the United States, and such a claim was brought in 2002 instead of 1960, his ministry would have been terminated and he would likely have remained under a cloud of suspicion for the rest of his life. The accusation brought upon Padre Pio more than the wounds of Christ that he bore in his body. It inflicted upon him the humiliation of Christ accused of blasphemy.
Trying to tear down the Body of Christ from within is nothing new. Persecution has always been here. It just takes different forms in different ages.
Padre Pio became the subject of twelve investigations commissioned by the Holy See. The claims of sexual misconduct were dismissed as the rantings of a priest driven by envy over Padre Pio’s unsought fame and personal holiness. The priest who brought the unfortunate claims recanted them, though that part of the story is omitted from the modern, agenda-driven pundits who point to the story. On his deathbed, the accusing priest implored Padre Pio to intercede for God’s forgiveness for his false witness.
St. Pio of Pietrelcina was canonized by Pope John Paul II on June 16, 2002, the very time that the Catholic sex abuse crisis in the United States had reached its media and litigation frenzy. St. Pio’s tomb is today the most visited Catholic shrine in Europe – a place of extraordinary holiness for those seeking signs of redemption in an age of confusion.
THE VISIT
The labyrinthine ways of grace are far beyond my understanding. Last month on August 11, I was visited in prison by Pierre, a wonderful man visiting from Europe. We had never met before, but have corresponded for four years. At our visit, there was between us a mutual sense that we had known each other for many, many years.
Pierre told me that as a youth growing up in Europe, his father enrolled him in a boarding school. When he wrote to his father about a planned visit to central Italy, his father instructed him to visit San Giovanni Rotondo and ask for Padre Pio’s blessing. Pierre, a teenager at the time, went as instructed to San Giovanni and waited for hours. Padre Pio was nowhere to be seen.
Pierre then approached a friar and asked if he could meet Padre Pio. “Impossible!” he was told. Just then, he looked up and saw the famous Stigmatic walking down the stairs toward him. Padre Pio’s hands were bandaged and he wore gloves. The friar, following the young man’s gaze, whispered in Italian, “Do not touch his hands.” Pierre trembled as he approached Padre Pio who placed his bandaged hand upon Pierre’s head and whispered his blessing.
Sixty years later, in the visiting room of the New Hampshire State Prison, Pierre bowed his head and asked for my blessing. It was one of the most humbling experiences of my life. I placed my hand upon Pierre knowing that the spiritual imprint of Padre Pio’s blessing was still in and upon this man, and I was overwhelmed to share in it.
“Prayer is the best weapon we have; it is the key to God’s heart. You must speak to Jesus not only with your lips but with your heart. In fact on certain occasions you should speak to Him only with your heart.” St. Pio of Pietrelcina.
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Father – I believe your suffering maybe in part atonement for those who have sinned against children – particularly priest (since not all are innocent as you are) and for the children who have been lead into sin by sexual abuse. It is a great honor to be so trusted by our Lord. I thank God that He offers you the occassional small consolation – such as this intimate connection to St Padre Pio – may they give you strength and sustain you always.
Hi Fr. MacRae,
Peace be with you. What a lovely article.
There are some other similarities between you and Padre Pio. Padre Pio was acutely embarrased by his stigmata, so you are by yours. Also, Padre Pio was given the Stigmata for nearly his whole life, 50 years, as I recall. You also have been given a virtual life sentence. Padre Pio lived out his his sentence and had a few years without them. You will too. One day, you will be free. I continue to pray that that day (καιροσ), might be soon.
Until then, know that we are praying daily that God might strengthen you and uplift the work of your hands where you are.
Your partner in mission,
Jim
Dear Father Gordon MacRae,
Just to tell you that Our Lord wants you to share SHAME with HIM. Remember Father, that the Lord carried his cross after being scourged with his “manhood exposed”. He lay on the cross “naked” and was buried in haste “without proper funeral wrappings”…Everytime I look at the shroud of Turin, I tell myself, “This is a picture the Lord took of himself raising from the dead.
In the process, his body radiated brilliant rays with genially measured intensity, so that the details of his body be burned upon the linen and leave for future generations a negative image of HIMSELF naked, without Jewish proper wrappings, humiliated but …glorious finally.
The SHAME of being exposed to the sneers of his enemies in public during his passion , and the lingering shame of being buried without dignity, has been rewarded with a miraculous photograph, which is an eloquent proclamation of his resurrection . Your SHAME will be rewarded TOO, dear Father MacRae, as your courageous refusal to tell lies, in exchange for shorter confinement, will wash away the damage caused by insensitive Christians who neglect to follow the example of the tender Good Shepherd, and the caring Good Samaritan who is Our Lord Jesus himself.
Thank you father for this moving post . I will remember Greta and Pierrre in my prayers.
I have a deep affection for Padre Pio He restored my belief in my Guardian Angel and the more I read about this saintly priest the deeper my respect for him.
I am so glad he is one of your mentors and supports in the difficult place you find yourself in.
All of your comments on this post have been read to me in prison, and I deeply appreciate all you have had to say. I am very moved by your devotion to Padre Pio. I am very moved by the depth of your devotion and your encouragement of me. The comments by Bishop Matthiesen are especially poignant, and most welcomed. I consider all of you as saints of God who have come to my aid in prayer and sacrifice. I offer my humble thanks.
I wanted you all to know that I received a letter this evening from Pierre – the same Pierre mentioned in this blog post. He told me that last Friday, 9/18, his beloved wife, Greta, entered eternal life. Pierre was deeply devoted to Greta and cared for her around the clock in recent years as she suffered a debilitating illness. Please join me in prayer for Greta and for Pierre. They are wonderful souls. May the Lord bless you and keep you.
Fr. Gordon
St. Padre Pio survived the victimization attempt of a jealous brother priest because Church authorities of his time presumed him to be innocent, as he proved to be. Sadly and tragically, that time-honored legal presumption has been turned on its head by current Church leaders who presume a priest accused of abuse is guilty. Left to defend himself, denied legal assistance and due canonical process, he disappears into the mist. Blessed are they who are found, nurtured, and loved.
hi, Father Gordon…enjoy your website….thought you’d like a Padre Pio story from my husband;….he had a priest friend who told him that during WWII he was in the Pacific as a navy man, his father was serving in the army in Italy.
One day his father was serving at Padre Pio’s mass. After mass his father asked Padre Pio to pray for his son, he was worried about his ‘loose’ behavior in the Pacific. Padre Pio said, “don’t worry about your son, he will be a priest some day.” His father told him the story the day we was ordained a priest!!!! ummmmm
Father- you continually inspire me with your courage and your trust. God bless you…
Today is my husband’s birthday and the third anniversary of my dear father’s passing- so the fact that they share this day with Padre Pio gives me great hope.
I never knew that Padre Pio himself was accused! How horrible!
Another reason to turn to him, Fr., for consolation and strength.
I pray for you always…
Seems as if, everyone has a connection to Padre Pio. At this morning’s Mass here at St. David’s in Willow Grove, PA, a newly ordained priest had a neighbor who knew this saint personally and even named their first son after him. (Padre Pio told him to do it) And now that first son is a priest. Perhaps St. Pio could be the patron saint of the falsely accused. And Who paid the ultimate price for a false accusation of blasphemy but Our Redeemer.
Sixty seven years for an unprovable accusation! Where is the justice in that and where is the hierarchy of our Church in New Hampshire? Hiding under their self righteousness.
On this day of the memorial of St. Padre Pio, I pray he will intercede for strength and comfort for you. Your courage is a teaching for me as I sometimes feel so discouraged and then I think of you and your suffering.
I will be praying for you daily and appreciate any prayers you offer for my family who are so far from their faith and need sanctification.
Pax Christi, Patricia
Dear Father:
Thanks for the wonderful article you have written about Padre Pio. He touches all our lives in some way or another. I heard about him as a young girl in school from my dear nun who taught me in 7th grade. He seemed too far away for me then.
I heard about him again as an adult living in Illinois before he was to be canonized. Someone I knew said he was her very favorite and she would attend the canonization. How wonderful that must have been.
Because of EWTN, I am able to hear many things about him from time to time. This morning the priest who did the homily at Mass there in Birmingham, had one of Padre Pio’s gloves which he blessed everyone with at the end of his homily. And then I go to the computer and see your email and then read your article on none other than the Padre himself.
Padre Pio was quite something and the abilities he was given were certainly graces from God. He would visit this priest from this morning’s homily in a couple of his dreams. And the last dream he had, cemented in his young seminarian mind that he must spend time alone before the Blessed Sacrament daily. And he does. He seems like a wonderful priest to me. Jesus has something to do with that.
Your visit from Pierre and his asking for your blessing was a beautiful tribute to the priesthood, Fr. MacRae. No one will ever be able to remove that special gift, that mark upon your soul. You will always be a priest. And I know you will meet Padre Pio someday in heaven.
God bless you.
Mary Elizabeth
Katy, TX
I ask for Padre Pio’s intercession a lot, especially when I am making an examination of conscience before Confession. He has helped me I am sure. I have always been impressed with how he knew a person’s heart and could tell if they were leaving something out of their confession. Scary, but in a good way.
Thinking of you especially today Father. I will be praying for you through the day.May the presence of St Pio grace you today,and bring you some consolation.May Our Lady surround you in Her love.Amen.
Father,
I join my tears with Julie’s- a beautiful and bittersweet post. I often pray Padre Pio’s prayer :”Stay with us Lord…” Considering the circumstances it would seem that this saint is a special patron of your- you have much in common in different ways.
My prayers for you continue.
What a beautiful post! It has me absolutely in tears!
I, too have a devotion to Padre Pio, having grown up with him as a “household name.” My family was always talking about him, so much so I thought he must be some kind of relative of ours, the uncle I never met because of course he died before I was born. As I got older I came to understand that one of my relatives was a friend of Padre Pio’s.
Only recently did I come to learn the depth of that friendship, that it wasn’t passing acquaintance, but they were in fact very good friends. So, speaking as a “Spiritual daughter” of Padre Pio, it’s wonderful to “meet” one of his Spiritual Sons!
Father, once he’s claimed you, he never stops praying. I will also pray to him for his intercession on your behalf.
Thank you so much for this post. You have written exactly something I needed to read today, and especially because I’m preparing to go to a very much needed Confession this morning.
You remain in my prayers.