This from Catholic World News:
Maybe it's just me.
San Giovanni Rotondo, Mar. 3, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Church officials exhumed the body of Padre Pio on March 2, in preparation for the public veneration of his remains later this year.
Bishop Domenico D'Ambrosio reported that the body of Padre Pio, who died in 1968, was partially incorrupt. Although there was no sign of the stigmata-- the wounds on his hands and feet, matching those of the crucified Christ-- the saint's hair and beard were intact. The bishop remarked that the hands of the beloved Capuchin friar were so well preserved that he appeared to have "just had a manicure."
The body of Padre Pio-- who was canonized by Pope John Paul II (bio - news) in 2002-- is being transferred to a new shrine in San Giovanni Rotondo, where he lived. His remains will be exposed for veneration there. Archbishop D'Ambrosio overcame objections from some of Padre Pio's relatives to exhume the saint's body, making it available for veneration during the 40th anniversary of his death. Each year nearly 1 million people travel to San Giovanno Rotondo to visit the saint's grave; Church officials expect larger crowds for the anniversary year.
Maybe it's just me.
Comments
The cult of relics and the veneration of sacred remains is as old as religion itself, predating Christianity. The Catholic Church, however, among modern religions remains idiosyncratically wedded to it and the latest manifestation of this is the exhumation this week in a three-hour service of the 40-year buried cadaver of the monk Padre Pio. He was said to show 'stigmata' or marks similar to Christ's nail wounds, and became part of a major cult of miracles. The Vatican once opposed this as hysteria, and there have been doubts thrown on the miraculous wounds, as either symptoms of mental illness or downright fraud; but lately he has been canonized. And so, in the southern town of Foggia, up comes the body - despite relatives' protests earlier this year. They plan to display it in a glass coffin when it has been "prepared".
It is a difficult one for those bred up in Catholic tradition, but who nonetheless regard these venerations and displays as atavistic and somewhat creepy.