September 29, 2025 — In late August, St. Francis Xavier Parish in Missoula, Montana, hosted the relics of St. Pio of Pietrelcina, one of the Church’s most widely venerated saints.
Born into a humble family of farmers in 1887, Francesco Forgione joined the Capuchins at 15, took the name Pio and was ordained in 1910. Eight years later, as Padre Pio was ending the celebration of Mass, he had a vision of Jesus. When the vision ended, his body bore the stigmata—the wounds of Christ—on his hands and feet and in his side. Padre Pio quickly became well-known for his holiness and intense spiritual insights and would often spend up to 16 hours a day hearing the confessions of the crowds who waited to see him to ask for his intercession with God.
Among those who asked for Padre Pio’s prayers was Karol Wojtyla, then the auxiliary bishop of Kraków, Poland. Bishop Wojtyla wrote to Padre Pio asking for healing for a close friend who had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Two weeks later, the friend was miraculously cured, and in 2002, Bishop Wojtyla, then Pope John Paul II, canonized Padre Pio.
In 2017, in honor of the 130th anniversary of Padre Pio’s birth, the U.S.-based Saint Pio Foundation organized the first tour of his relics. Each year since, the foundation has sponsored a pilgrimage of his relics so the faithful have an opportunity to have a spiritual encounter with St. Pio, to pray to him, and to seek his blessings.
When the relics arrived at St. Francis Xavier in August, more than 1,000 people from five states waited to pray before the relics. Fr. Craig Hightower, SJ, pastor of St. Francis Xavier, said, “I think what was amazing is that he was a medic in WWI, and people forget that part. He suffered greatly in his life and endured serious health afflictions and was in physical pain for decades. For many, seeing Padre Pio’s relics up close is a way of connecting with his life of suffering, prayer and miraculous ministry.”
