Praying is not like taking an aspirin, something one does just to feel a little better, Pope Francis told thousands of members of Padre Pio prayer groups from around the world. Prayer is not a business negotiation with God either, he said, addressing more than 60,000 people gathered in St Peter’s Square on Saturday. Prayer was a “work of spiritual mercy”, a time to entrust everything to the heart of God. The pilgrims were in Rome for the Year of Mercy and a week of special events that included veneration of the relics of St Padre Pio and St Leopold Mandic, both Capuchin friars who often spent more than 12 hours a day hearing confessions. Although many faithful believe the body of Padre Pio, who died in 1968, is incorrupt, Church officials have never made such a claim. When his body was exhumed in 2008, Church officials said it was in “fair condition”. Chemicals were used to ensure its preservation and the face was covered with a silicone mask. Pushed through the centre of Rome on Friday in glass coffins on rolling platforms, the relics of Padre Pio and St Leopold were escorted by Italian military police, dozens of Capuchin friars and thousands of faithful. Cardinal Angelo Comastri, archpriest of St Peter’s, welcomed the relics, blessed them with incense and accompanied them into St Peter’s Basilica where they were to stay for veneration until February 11. Pope Francis told pilgrims that “the great river of mercy” that Padre Pio unleashed should continue through prayers and, especially, the willingness to listen and to care for others.