The Truth about Padre Pio's Stigmata
Answering the carbolic acid accusations
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Published in the June 2012 issue of Catholic Family News also in The Voice of Padre Pio, Sept-Oct. 2012, published by his Friary in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy |
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by Frank M. Rega
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When Canada’s McGill University
conferred its $75,000 "Cundill Prize in History" to a book about
Padre Pio (1), the Montreal
Gazette reported on Nov. 15, 2011 that the book raised the possibility
that the saint used carbolic acid to self-inflict the wounds of his stigmata (2). The carbolic acid canard was quickly seized
by the press. The next day The Telegraph of Britain announced that
"Italy's Padre Pio used carbolic acid to cause bleeding wounds on his
hands that he claimed were replicas of Christ's, according to a new
book." (3) The
Huffington Post reported that the book suggests that "Italian
saint Padre Pio reportedly used carbolic acid on his hands, feet and sides to
‘self-inflict’ the wounds…" (4)
A large spate of articles soon followed both in print and online, which cast
doubt upon the authenticity of Padre Pio's stigmata. Even Catholic websites
parroted the claim. The faith of many Catholics in the canonization process
as well as in the sanctity of Padre Pio was shaken.
Of course it was also convenient fodder for opponents of the traditional
Church, especially critics of her veneration of the saints (5). Concerned about possible distortions,
British editor and columnist Damian Thompson wrote: "What bothers me
about the claims about Pio – which I haven't studied closely enough to
evaluate – is that they will be used by the secular world and its Catholic
allies to pour scorn on the peasant and working-class devotions that Vatican
II ideologues tried to eradicate." (6)
However, the charge that St. Padre Pio used chemicals to sustain the stigmata
was shown to be baseless as far back as 1919, less than a year after their
occurrence. In that year, a little-known attempt at a medical
"cure" effectively ruled out chemical agents as the cause of the
wounds on the saint's hands, feet and chest.
Only three official medical examinations of St. Pio’s wounds were ever authorized,
and they all occurred in 1919. The examining physicians did their work
independently of the others. One of the three was Dr. Amico Bignami,
Professor of Pathology at the Royal University of Rome (Regia Università di
Roma). The Procurator General of the Capuchin Order, responding to a request
from the Holy Office at the Vatican, invited Dr. Bignami to the friary at San
Giovanni Rotondo. He was asked to perform a medical examination on the wounds
of Padre Pio, and to render his judgment (7).
Bignami was an atheist and logical positivist, which meant that he would only
give credence to phenomena which could be proven scientifically or explained
naturally. At first he refused the commission, but upon learning that the
request originated from the Curia, he accepted, but wished no one to know of
the assignment (8). The Examination
He arrived in July of 1919, accompanied by the Capuchin Provincial, Padre
Pietro of Ischitella. He only remained a few days, and drew up his report on
the 26th of the month. During his short stay he examined Padre Pio
several times.
To his credit, in his final report Bignami depicts the friar as having an
expression on his face that is "full of goodness and sincerity, which
inspire affection . . . that in spite of his apparent weakness he supports
fatigue very well. He can, for example, hear confessions for even 15-16
continuous hours without eating. He usually eats little . . . He has a
vivacious, gentle, and sometimes wandering look . . ." (9)
His five-page report then proceeds to describe in detail the anatomical and
histological characteristics of Padre Pio’s wounds (10). He is struck by the symmetry of the
"lesions," that is, that the wounds on the palms and soles are in a
corresponding place to those on the opposite sides of the same hands and
feet. As for the chest wound, he considers that it is simply the result of a
superficial abrasion of the epidermis.
He notices that the skin around the wounds is colored with a halo from
tincture of iodine, and this arouses his suspicion. In response to Bignami’s
questions about the iodine, Padre Pio says he uses it as a disinfectant a
couple of times a week or more, and it also helps to lessen the bleeding.
In his report, the professor proposes three hypotheses for the origin of the
wounds on Padre Pio. As a positivist, Dr. Bignami only considers natural
explanations, ignoring any supernatural possibility. They
are artificially and voluntarily caused. They
are the manifestation of a morbid (pathological) state [stato morboso]. They
are partially the product of a morbid state and partially artificial.
He rules out the first option, writing that the "impression of sincerity
that Padre Pio has made on me" does not allow him to consider the
possibility of deliberate simulation as the cause of the wounds (11).
Regarding the second hypothesis, he deems that the wounds on the feet and
hands have in fact a pathological origin, due to neurotically-caused cell
deterioration [necrosi neurotiche], but this cannot explain the unexpected
symmetry of the wounds.
Therefore he has recourse to the third hypothesis, which he develops further.
"We can in fact think that the lesions as described first began as a
pathological condition (multiple ‘necrosi neurotiche’ of the skin), and then
perhaps by a process of unconscious suggestion, they came to completion in a
symmetrical form, and are now maintained artificially by a chemical means,
for example with tincture of iodine." (12)
Thus, he essentially proposes a three stage process – a pathological origin
of the wounds, then the influence of autosuggestion to explain their
symmetrical location, and finally the use of a chemical to sustain the wounds
over time. It is important to note that he does not accuse Padre Pio of
intentionally creating the wounds by chemical means.
Bignami’s report then concludes: "This seems to be the most reliable
interpretation of the facts that I have observed. In any case one can affirm
that there is nothing in the alterations of the skin as described that cannot
be the product of a morbid state and of the action of well-known chemical
agents." (13) The "Cure"
As a medical professional Bignami believed that Padre Pio’s lesions should
respond to clinical treatment. In order to conclusively demonstrate that
Padre Pio’s "sores" had a natural explanation and were maintained
by the application of chemicals such as iodine or carbolic acid, Bignami
designed a simple procedure, which he believed would lead to a cure of the
lesions.
First, any chemicals found in Padre Pio’s room should be removed (the only
chemical found there was iodine). Next, the doctor proposed that the friar’s
wounds on his hands, feet and chest were to be bandaged and securely sealed
by reliable witnesses, to prevent any tampering. Each day for eight days the
bandages would be changed and resealed, and the progress of the treatment was
to be noted.
If the wounds were being maintained by the application of chemicals, then
protecting them from external substances with bandages should cause their
bleeding and size to diminish significantly. Thus, at the end of the
procedure the lesions should be well on their way to being healed.
While Bignami was specifically concerned about Padre Pio’s use of iodine,
Padre Paolino, the Guardian of the friary, thought carbolic acid [acido
fenico] had been applied to the wounds in order to stem their bleeding (14). Carbolic acid was in fact being used in the
monastery at that time to sterilize the needles used for injections to
prevent the Spanish Flu (15).
The Father Provincial of the Capuchins, Pietro Ischitella, agreed to the
procedure. Under the precept of obedience, he ordered the monastery’s
Superior, Padre Paolino, and a small group of priests to implement Dr.
Bignami’s treatment. Padre Pietro made the friars swear that they would
scrupulously follow the directives.
The Capuchin friars were extremely willing to undertake this task. Now they
would be able to see for themselves the stigmata that Padre Pio was always so
careful to conceal even from his brothers in religion. Padre Paolino, as the
Superior, could have exempted himself, but would not let the opportunity
pass. Three others were chosen to be the "reliable witnesses:"
Padres Placido, Ludovico, and Basilio.
Padre Paolino later wrote: "The Father Provincial departed, and the next
morning, in the presence of the witnesses, I helped to remove the habit and
undershirt, together with Padre Pio’s socks; along with the other Fathers, I
was able to see quite clearly the mark on his chest and those on the feet and
hands…" (16)
He continued, "Thus during the space of eight days every morning we
removed the bandages of the preceding day after having verified that the seal
was intact, and we put new ones on; and in this way we easily observed the
stigmata on Padre Pio, who however suffered immensely in the depths of his
heart in exposing these wounds, which he always tried to keep hidden from the
eyes of others." The Result
"Never had the wounds shed so much blood as in those days," wrote
one of the witnesses, Padre Placido, in his memoirs (17). "In the morning, before he ascended the altar
to celebrate Mass, we unbound the hands, and in order prevent blood from
staining the vestments and altar cloths, one of us every so often dried the
wounds with a cotton wad."
Each morning the seals and bandages were always found intact. On the eighth
and last day so much blood issued from Padre Pio’s hands during his Mass that
the friars had to send for some handkerchiefs so that the Padre could dry
them. Paolino wrote: "It seemed to us that it was a very clear sign from
God against the arguments of Professor Bignami." (18)
Not only was there no improvement in the condition of the lesions, but they
did not even begin to heal! Instead, the bleeding on the last day was worse
than before and the blood had taken on a vivid red color. Also, not only the
hands, but each of the wounds bled every day, according to a signed
deposition of the witnesses (19). The
existence and sustained bleeding of the stigmata persisted over time, even
when any possible application of chemicals was prevented. This proved very
clearly that the duration and condition of the wounds did not depend on
iodine, carbolic acid, or any other external substance.
Dr. Bignami had departed the friary before the experiment was over, and it is
not known what his reaction was. Rev. Bernard Ruffin’s well-respected
biography of Padre Pio states: "He never again visited Padre Pio,
although rumor had it that years later, when he was paralyzed by a stroke, he
asked for Padre Pio’s prayers." (20)
Ruffin also noted: " . . .while the stigmata never healed, all the other
wounds sustained by Padre Pio during the course of his life mended
normally." (21)
Less than 2 years after Bignami’s cure had failed, the Holy Office sent an
Apostolic Visitor to San Giovanni Rotondo, Bishop Raffaello Carlo Rossi. He
was the Vatican’s official Inquisitor into the person, stigmata, phenomena
and environment surrounding Padre Pio. His final report and its accompanying
documentation comprised almost 200 pages, and had been kept secreted in the
Vatican archives until its release in 2006. In it, Bishop Rossi stated this
about the stigmata: "We can then conclude that they were not caused or
preserved with physical and chemical means, which, after all, would have been
in absolute contrast with Padre Pio’s proven virtue . . ." (22)
Not surprisingly, the book which ignited the current carbolic acid
controversy (see note 1) devotes only one paragraph to Bignami’s attempt at a
cure. It does not offer comments on the results and neglects to draw the
obvious conclusion. Of course, doing so would have blunted the impact of its
sensationalist innuendos, which served to arouse suspicions that Padre Pio
had used carbolic acid on his wounds – an allegation which has never been
proven.
Padre Pio himself testified about this to the Apostolic Visitor, after taking
a solemn oath upon the Holy Gospels to tell the truth. The Bishop pointedly
asked him whether he had ever used carbolic acid on himself, either diluted
or pure. The saint answered: "No, except when the doctor used it to
sterilize when he would give me an injection." (23).
To understand the actual truth about Padre Pio’s stigmata, on must rise to
the level of faith. While in ecstasy on the morning of September 20, 1918, he
witnessed his risen savior hovering before him, "dripping with blood and
shining forth rays of light and flame" from the wounds of His
crucifixion. "When the vision disappeared he found himself on the floor
and saw that his own hands, feet and side were dripping blood. He managed to
crawl and drag himself back to his cell, unable to walk because of the pain
in his pierced feet. He cleansed the wounds, and then remained alone in his
room in prayerful weeping and thanksgiving." (24)
No, St. Padre Pio was not a fraud who "faked" his stigmata. Rather,
they were a gift from the Lord, given to Padre Pio as a share in His passion,
for his own sanctification, for the salvation of souls and for the glory of
God. The Players Dr.
Amico Bignami, tenured professor of medical pathology at the Royal University
of Rome. Padre
Pietro of Ischitella, the Provincial of the Capuchin Province to which
belonged the Capuchin Friary of Our Lady of Grace at San Giovanni Rotondo. Padre
Paolino da Casacalenda, the Guardian (the Superior) of the Friary, and one of
the four witnesses to the "cure." Padre
Basilio da Mirabello Sannitico, witness. Padre
Ludovico da San Marco in Lamis, witness. Padre
Placido da San Marco in Lamis, witness. He was not present at the time of the
signing of the deposition. Notes A
special thank you to Michael Brown of www.spiritdaily.com
who emailed me about "that ridiculous carbolic acid claim,"
inspiring me to research and write this article. The Voice of Padre Pio
magazine, published by Padre Pio's Friary in Italy, is available via The Padre Pio Foundation and The National Centre for Padre Pio. All
translations from Italian language sources are by the present author.
Some online articles may no longer be available. 1.
Luzzatto, Sergio, Padre Pio: Miracles and Politics in a Secular Age, New
York, Metropolitan Books, 2010. 2.
"McGill Prize Honours Book on Padre Pio," http://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/editorials/McGill+prize+honours+book+Padre/5710411/story.html 3.
"Italy’s Padre Pio ‘faked his stigmata with acid’," http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1567216/Italys-Padre-Pio-faked-his-stigmata-with-acid.html 4.
"Padre Pio's 'Stigmata Wounds' Caused By Carbolic Acid, Sergio
Luzzatto's New Book Suggests," http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/22/padre-pio-stigmata-wounds_n_1107890.html 5.
"The Padre Pio Question and Bias in the Media," http://www.panoramitalia.com/en/blog/life-people/padre-pio-question-bias-media/486/ 6.
"Padre Pio and carbolic acid. Could the saint really have been a
fraud?" http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100117995/ 7.
Di Flumeri, Padre Gerardo, Le Stigmate di Padre Pio da Pietrelcina,
San Giovanni Rotondo, Edizioni Padre Pio da Pietrelcina, 1995, p. 173. 8.
Saldutto, Gerardo, Un Tormentato Settennio Nella Vita di Padre Pio da
Pietrelcina, San Giovanni Rotondo, Edizioni Padre Pio da Pietrelcina,
1986, p. 115. 9.
Cruchon, Giorgio, "The Stigmata of Padre Pio," in Acts of the
First Congress of Studies on Padre Pio’s Spirituality, San Giovanni
Rotondo, Edizioni Padre Pio da Pietrelcina, 1973, p. 124. 10.
Le Stigmate, pp.. 173-179. 11.
Ibid., p. 177. 12.
Ibid., p. 178. 13.
Ibid., pp. 178-179. 14.
Ibid., p. 81. 15.
Rega, Frank M., Padre Pio and America, Rockford, TAN Books and
Publishers, 2005, p. 55. 16.
Le Stigmate, p. 83. 17.
Ibid., p. 72. 18.
Ibid., p. 84. 19.
Ibid., p. 64. 20.
Ruffin, C. Bernard, Padre Pio: The True Story, Huntington, Our Sunday
Visitor, 1991, p. 177. 21.
Ibid., p. 165. 22.
Castelli, Francesco, Padre Pio Under Investigation, San Francisco,
Ignatius Press, 2011, p. 118. 23.
Ibid., p. 204. 24.
Padre Pio and America, Pp. 54-55. |
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This and similar articles are in the above book, available in print or Kindle format.
Frank Rega is the author of: Padre
Pio and America,
St.
Francis of Assisi and the Conversion of the Muslims,
The
Greatest Catholic President: Garcia Moreno of Ecuador
Life of the Mystic Luisa Piccarreta
- Journeys in the Divine Will vols. 1 and 2
Life of the Mystic Luisa
Piccarreta - volume 3 in preparation
The
Truth about Padre Pio's Stigmata and Other Wonders of the Saint
Vatican II, Evolution, and Medjugorje: Hubris, Heresy, and Mystery
www.frankrega.com www.sanpadrepio.com www.thepoverello.com www.lifeofluisa.com
This page was last updated on 06/26/14