In a veneration first for US-based Catholics, they will have the opportunity to visit and prayer before the friar's habit worn by St. Pio of Pietrelcina, more commonly known as Padre Pio.
The rare opportunity will take place from 11-14 October at the National Center for Padre Pio in Barto, Pennsylvania, located in the Diocese of Allentown, reports the Catholic News Agency (CNA).
It notes that a group of Italian Capuchin friars from the Our Lady of Grace Capuchin Friary in San Giovanni Rotondo in southern Italy – which was Padre Pio’s friary – are bringing the habit to be displayed at the centre and which has been designated a Jubilee site within the Allentown Diocese.
