Pope's visit to Padre Pio's shrine

(June 22, 2009) Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday paid a visit to the shrine of popular Italian saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina and encouraged people to follow his brand of holiness marked by prayer and charity, while at the same time fight activism and secularization. The Pope spent entire Sunday out in San Giovanni Rotondo, a city in southern Apulia region where St. Pio of Pietrelcina, popularly known as Padre Pio, lived, died and is buried. In a homily during an open-air Mass in the morning, Pope Benedict referred to Sunday’s Gospel reading about Jesus calming the stormy sea, and said that Jesus had personally “experienced this tragedy in a lacerating way, especially in the Garden of Gethsemane, before his arrest, and then during the entire Passion, until his death on the cross.” But His ‘trusting abandonment to the Father was total and pure.” “Some saints, such as Padre Pio,” the Pope noted, “have lived intensely and personally this experience of Jesus.” While maintaining his natural gifts and temperament, the Pope noted, Padre Pio offered everything to God, “who was able to freely use them to extend the work of Christ to proclaim the Gospel, forgive sins and heal the sick in body and spirit.” “Padre Pio attracted others to the path of holiness by his own testimony, showing by example the path that leads to it, viz. prayer and charity,” the Holy Father affirmed, but warned against risks such as “activism and secularization.” The Pope noted that many of them, overwhelmed with duties such as serving pilgrims and the sick in the hospital, could run “the risk of neglecting listening to Christ to do the will of God.” At such moments, he said, they should look up to and invoke Padre Pio so that they can continue “his mission permeated with love for God and fraternal love.”
At the edn of the Mass Pope Benedict called for an end to conflicts that cause people to flee their homes, and underlined the duty to welcome these displaced persons. “We pray today for the difficult and sometimes dramatic situation of refugees,” the Pontiff said before reciting the midday ‘Angelus’ prayer. His appeal came a day after the international community marked World Refugee Day, sponsored by the United Nations. He said, “There are many people who seek refuge in other countries fleeing from situations of war, persecution and disasters, and their acceptance poses many difficulties, but it is nevertheless a duty.” “God grant that, with the commitment of all, we will do as much as possible to remove the causes of so sad a phenomenon,” Pope Benedict said. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees reported there are some 10.5 million refugees and 26 million internally displaced persons throughout the world due to conflicts and persecution.
Later on Sunday, Pope Benedict met directors, employees and patients at the hospital established by St. Padre Pio in San Giovanni Rotondo - the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, or the “Home to Relieve Suffering.” There he affirmed that suffering cannot be understood on a human level, but requires faith in God, who alone has the power to remove it. The Holy Father recalled Padre Pio's desire, when he launched the hospital in 1956, that “the commitment of science in treating the patient never be separated from a filial trust in God, infinitely tender and merciful.” He noted the “recognized scientific and a medical results” of the institution, and encouraged its “evangelical work.” Saying that “suffering is part of the very mystery of the human person,” Pope Benedict said, “Only God can remove the power of evil” which is the source of suffering. He explained that “faith helps us to penetrate the meaning of all things human and therefore also of suffering.”
In another meeting later on Sunday at San Giovanni Rotondo, Pope Benedict addressed priests, religious and youth at the Church of St. Pio of Pietrelcina in San Giovanni Rotondo. Particularly turning to young people, he assured the Church’s solidarity with them, especially those unemployed, and urged them not abandon the Church. “I have present in mind the problems facing you, dear young men and women, which threaten to stifle the enthusiasms typical of your youth,” the Pope said, adding, “the phenomenon of unemployment” affects so many young men and women. “Do not lose heart! The Church does not abandon you. Do not abandon the Church!” he urged, and said “Your input is necessary in order to build living Christian communities, and societies that are more just and open to hope.” He told them to have recourse to Jesus, saying “He will never abandon or betray your trust…” Holding up the example of Padre Pio, the Holy Father told the young people to cultivate a personal friendship with Jesus through daily prayer, listening to His word, recourse to the sacraments and cordial membership in the Church.