By Trinna Leong and Andrea Palatnik
Some of the pilgrims who travel to San Giovanni Rotondo every year come to ask Padre Pio for a cure or to thank him for being healed. Many of the miracles attributed to San Pio da Pietrelcina are related to impossible healings and mysterious cures, and the hospital built by the Capuchin friar in San Giovanni Rotondo, the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, is filled with believers who trust Padre Pio’s health-giving powers.
Agnes Reyes, 54, immigrated six years ago to Italy from the Philippines. Brought up in a very religious family, Reyes survived cancer and came to San Giovanni Rotondo for the first time this spring. She decided to embark on the pilgrimage as a means to thank the saint for her recovery and to pray for ill members of her family.
Maria Persichetti, on the other hand, is a 75-year-old from Veroli, four hours away from San Giovanni Rotondo. She comes every year with her family to Saint Pio’s shrine. She says her son-in-law was saved from a coma by Padre Pio, who appeared to him in dreams while he was in the hospital. “A miracle has happened,” she insists with a smile. “We have a lot of faith in Padre Pio.”
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