Italian prelate shares spirituality of Padre Pio in New York visit

Published: 2003-11-17

WEST HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (CNS) -- As he works to spread the legacy of St. Padre Pio, Italian Archbishop Domenico D'Ambrosio said one of his sources of strength and guidance is Padre Pio himself. Archbishop D'Ambrosio, installed in May as archbishop of Manfredonia, Vieste and San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, was named by the pope to oversee the sanctuary of San Giovanni Rotondo and its related institutions. The pilgrimage complex was founded by the famed Capuchin Franciscan mystic who was canonized last year. The archbishop spoke about the saint, who bore the marks of the stigmata from 1918 until his death in 1968, during a visit to St. Thomas the Apostle Church in West Hempstead, in the Rockville Centre Diocese. He told members of local Padre Pio prayer groups that he relies on the wisdom of the friar and has confidence in the saint's intercession.

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