Case file · Apparition / miracle
Stigmata of Padre Pio
On 20 September 1918, praying in the choir of the friary at San Giovanni Rotondo, the Capuchin Padre Pio received visible wounds on hands, feet and side, which he bore for 50 years. He was also credited with bilocation and reading souls.
1918 CE · 41.71, 15.73 · status: disputed
The account
The Holy Office restricted his ministry in the 1920s and 1930s. He was canonised in 2002 and his shrine is among the most visited in Europe.
The sceptical view
Agostino Gemelli and other critics suspected self-inflicted wounds; a 2007 book cited a pharmacist's testimony that he ordered carbolic acid. The Church never ruled on the stigmata themselves.