The canonizations of Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II on April 27, 2014 marked a historic moment for the Catholic Church for which I was blessed to have been present at St. Peter’s Square. For me it was a heart-throbbing experience also because I was fortunate to have met John Paul II personally on an earlier occasion. This experience also brought to my mind the canonization of Padre Pio on June 16, 2002 in one of the largest attended liturgies ever in the Vatican's history for which I was also doubly blessed to be one among thousands at the Vatican. As we celebrate the feast of Padre Pio of Pietrelcina on Sept 23, naturally my thought goes to the two modern-day spiritual heroes – St. Padre Pio and St. John Paul II who were two great friends.
Karol Wojtyla met Padre Pio for the first time in 1947 at San Giovanni Rotondo. It was not an ordinary meeting, like with other pilgrims. It was a meeting that lasted almost a week, during which young Father Wojytla confessed with Padre Pio, assessed his doctrine and had a precise conception of his spirituality. The closeness between the two men was something mystic. That meeting marked the future Pope, even though, years later, John Paul II denied that Padre Pio had told him that one day he would be "dressed in white". Whether this revelation is real or alleged, the Polish Pope never stopped to feel bound to the Saint of Pietrelcina.
When in 1962 Wanda Poltawska, a longtime friend of Wojtyla, became seriously ill from cancer, the future Pope, then bishop of Krakow, did not hesitate to write to the monk who admitted with prophetic tone: "To this one I cannot say no”. The woman was miraculously cured and Wojtyla sent him a touching letter of thanks. In May, 1981, the assassination attempt against John Paul II took place on St. Peter's Square. Padre Pio's prophecy about Karol Wojtyla came back up for discussion. It was said that in 1947, Padre Pio had also foretold to the young Wojtyla the assassination attempt: “You will see your white cassock stained with blood.”
Archbishop Wojtyla was the first one to send a letter in Rome to ask for the opening of the beatification process. On May 25, 1987, Pope John Paul II, made a pastoral visit to San Giovanni Rotondo, to kneel and pray at the Padre Pio’s tomb. And I remember, on June 16, 2002, Pope John Paul II, who stood well and straight, spoke loud and clear, to happily, lovingly and officially declare Padre Pio a saint.Happy Feast of Padre Pio!