In this lesson, Father Paulo Ricardo talks
about the extraordinary phenomenon of bilocation, experienced by great men and
women from the past, but also by Padre Pio in the 20th century.
As an addendum to the course on Padre Pio, we will
discuss an extraordinary phenomenon that occurred many times throughout the
life of this saint, and which is attested by numerous witnesses: bilocation.
What is the nature of this phenomenon? Why does God allow it? What are the
possible explanations?
Some Cases of Padre Pio’s Bilocation
Let us begin by narrating some well-documented
cases of Padre Pio’s bilocation.
The first occurred in 1905, when he was still not
a priest. He was in the seminary in southern Italy when, suddenly, he found
himself in a mansion in Udine, in the northern part of the country. Before him,
two extremes of life: a father was dying at the very moment his daughter was
being born. The girl, named Giovanna Rizzani, would later become his spiritual
daughter. Our Lady was presenting her to him, entrusting her to his care. She
was a rough jewel that the saint would eventually refine.
One of Padre Pio’s confreres, Father Alberto
D’Apolito, recounts some interesting details of this story, details that I have
not found elsewhere. He says that the dying father, who was the girl's father,
was a Freemason, and that his fellow Masons were waiting outside his room,
ensuring that no Catholic priest would enter to perform the funeral rites as
his wife had requested.
The fact is that, suddenly, his pregnant wife saw
a friar passing by. Startled, she called one of the servants and asked who had
let him in. The servant replied that no friar had entered. A little while
later—due to the shock—the woman started having contractions, and the baby was
born. The child was fragile, given the circumstances. Then, the mother asked
for a priest to baptize the baby, and the Masons allowed him to enter. Seizing
the opportunity, the priest also attended to the dying man, giving him the
Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. According to the account, the man died
saying, “My God, have mercy! My God, have mercy!”
Years later, this same Giovanna, now 17 years old,
was in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, where her mother had moved, when she began
to have doubts about the Holy Trinity. Distressed, she found a Capuchin friar
in the church, asked to speak with him, and they went to the confessional.
There, the man, using examples and metaphors, addressed her concerns, and she
left very grateful. She then asked her friend to wait while she thanked the
friar again. They waited, but after a while, nothing happened. Eventually, the
church custodian, the “sanpietrino,” came by and told them it was time to
close. The girls then asked about the Capuchin friar, and the custodian went to
the confessional. When he returned, he said there was no friar there. The
church was empty, except for the two girls.
The following year, Giovanna heard about Padre Pio
and went to visit him at the convent. Upon meeting her, the saint exclaimed,
“I’ve been waiting for you for so many years!” She replied that it might be a
mistake, as they had never met before. Padre Pio then responded, “I was there
when your father died and you were born.”
Some might wonder if these stories are nothing
more than urban legends, products of popular credulity. The question is not
without merit, for indeed, many legends have been invented around Padre Pio. In
one of them, which I myself believed until recently, it was said that, by
bilocation, Padre Pio had met Don Orione, another saint, during the
beatification ceremony of St. Therese in St. Peter’s Basilica. According to the
story, Padre Pio appeared in the temple, walking with arms open toward Don
Orione, disappearing when the latter approached to greet him.
However, while preparing this lesson, I came
across a seemingly legitimate document in which Don Orione himself denies the
story. It is important to note that Don Orione held Padre Pio’s sanctity in
great regard. In fact, one time, a man, a breadwinner for his family, came to
him complaining of a paralyzed arm. Don Orione told him that he did not perform
such miracles and suggested that he go to Padre Pio. The man did so, and he was
indeed cured. In other words, Don Orione did not deny the bilocation episode
due to disbelief in the phenomenon, as if it were impossible. He denied it
simply because it did not happen; it was a legend.
Conclusion: Not everything said about a saint is
true. But the fact that there are legends does not mean that everything else is
a lie. Each case must be evaluated carefully, with patience and good will. And
to evaluate the miracles involving Padre Pio, including the bilocations, we
fortunately have a very reliable source: the saint himself.
In the book Padre Pio Under Investigation: The
"Secret Autobiography", by Francesco Castelli, all the documentation
of the first apostolic visit to Padre Pio, made by Monsignor Raffaelo Rossi in
1921—only three years after his stigmatization—is presented. On the third day
of the inquiry, June 16, he questioned the saint about the alleged bilocation
cases. It is worth noting that, in the report, he made sure to highlight the
virtues of the friar during the session. Padre Pio seemed, at all times, very
serene and candid. Sometimes, even with a childlike frankness. Let us follow
the dialogue:
He is also asked about bilocations. What does he
say about that?
Q: What can you tell us about bilocations?
A: I don’t know how or of what nature it is, and even less do I give it
much importance... but I became aware of this or that person, this or that
place; I don’t know if the mind is transported there, or if some representation
of the place or person appeared to me; I don’t know if I was present with my
body or without it.
In other words, Padre Pio clearly admits that
bilocations do happen. The inquisitor then cites some specific cases:
Q: Did you realize when such a state began, and then noticed when you
returned to normal?
A: Usually, it happens while I am praying, my attention is first directed
to the prayer and then to the representation; and suddenly, I find myself back
to where I was before.
Q: Could you share some specific facts?
A: Once, at night, I found myself by the bedside of a sick woman: Mrs.
Maria, from San Giovanni Rotondo. I was in the convent, I believe I was
praying. It must have been more than a year ago. I spoke words of comfort to
her; she asked me to pray for her healing. That’s essentially it. Personally, I
did not know this person; she had been recommended to me.
He continues, narrating another episode:
A: A man (for discretion, Padre Pio does not give the name) was presented
to me, or I appeared to him, in Torre Maggiore—while I was in the convent—and I
rebuked him and criticized him for his vices, urging him to convert, and later,
that man came here. I believe there were other cases; but these are the ones I
remember.
Q: Did you tell anyone about these supposed cases of bilocation?
A: No, not at all. This is the first time I’ve reported them in these
terms. It seems that I didn’t even tell my spiritual director, because I never
felt confused about it. These people spoke to me about it, but I remained
reserved; I neither denied nor confirmed it.
Years later, when Padre Pio was censured by the
Holy Office—not due to this apostolic visit, but because of the persecutions
and calumnies coming from the Archdiocese of Manfredonia and the controversial
(to say the least) report by Father Gemelli—he was without external
communication. His spiritual director, Father Agostino of San Marco in Lamis,
went to visit him. Father Agostino recounted that he had been in Florence for
the profession of a religious sister. While there, he heard that Padre Pio had
also been in the city by bilocation. Taking the opportunity, the man, to whom
the saint owed obedience, asked: “How often do you travel to Florence?” The
friar answered him only with a smile. Father Agostino then narrated the story
he had been told and asked if it was true. Padre Pio humbly confirmed: “Yes,
Father.”
Father Agostino continued: “But the sister said
she asked you to visit Sister Benjamina as well, and you answered her, ‘I don’t
have that obedience.’”
This means that the bilocation occurred with a
sort of divine mandate—it was an obedience to God's will. In this specific
case, God wanted Padre Pio to console this particular nun, not another one.
Father Agostino asked if the dialogue was true, and the saint confirmed.
It is important to note that these are very direct
and reliable witnesses. This is similar to the famous bilocation of St.
Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, as Royo Marín recounts in his Theology of Christian
Perfection. It is said that on September 21, 1774, Bishop Alphonsus, having
celebrated Mass in a small parish of his diocese, collapsed into an armchair
and remained catatonic for two days. Those who saw him were desperate, except
for one priest, who prudently advised that they leave the saint as he was.
After two days, a bell rang: it was the man waking up, asking what had
happened. When they told him about the “blackout,” St. Alphonsus responded:
“You—said the servant of God—believe I was sleeping, but you do not know that I
went to Rome to assist the Pope, who just died.” It was the death of Clement
XIV.
The rumor spread throughout the city, and days
later, news from Rome confirmed the event: the Pope had indeed died on the day
and at the hour indicated by St. Alphonsus. This is a story corroborated by
multiple witnesses.
Therefore, the first thing to conclude is that the
phenomenon of bilocation really occurs in the lives of some saints, and there
are numerous reliable testimonies of it. Now, it is necessary to understand the
nature of bilocation.
Let us start with the following question: How do
the saints describe bilocation? As we saw in Padre Pio’s account, the common
experience is that the person’s real physical body remains in the place of
origin, in a somewhat robotic activity or in a sleep-like state. Meanwhile, in
the destination place—this is what they say—something appears that takes the
form of the bilocated body.
Q: Is it the body that is in two places at once?
A: Thomistic answer: That is contradictory and impossible. It is not
possible for a circumscribed body to be in two places at the same time. It is
surprising that some Church doctors, such as St. Robert Bellarmine, or wise
philosophers, like Suárez and Francelin, hold the absurd and unacceptable
opinion that the real, solid body actually appears in two places at once. This
does not make sense.
Let us then describe the phenomenon to see if its
nature becomes clearer—and the impossibility of this body duplication.
We have seen that, generally, one’s body remains
in one place, and at the destination, something else appears, which is not the
real body. This is known through a series of observations. There was a case
where Padre Pio appeared to a doctor in Rome—who had no faith. The man had been
called to attend a patient during the night. Suddenly, while driving, a friar
appeared in the passenger seat. The religious man described the situation of
the patient, predicted the procedure the doctor would attempt, and warned him
not to use it, as it would not work, clearly indicating what he should do
instead. The doctor, skeptical and thinking he was delirious, reached out to
touch the seat but felt nothing.
In this case, it was an ethereal, immaterial
reality. There was a presence that spoke and acted, but it had no body. In this
case, the real body remained in San Giovanni Rotondo, but even with the body
there, the saint was acting, locally, in another place, through a phenomenon of
appearance that we cannot explain exactly. Theological theories are
numerous—such as the condensation of air with the help of angels—but it’s not
relevant for us to delve into such details.
What is certain is that, in many cases, the person
seen is somewhat evanescent. In other cases, the apparition acts physically, as
in the case where Padre Pio appeared to a sick confrere in a hospital in Foggia.
He told the man that he would recover from his condition and left the mark of
his hand on the glass. When the friar realized it, he saw the mark on the glass
and understood that it wasn’t a dream, that Padre Pio had indeed been there.
Soon after, a friar arrived in San Giovanni Rotondo and informed Padre Pio of
the stir caused by the confrere’s testimony, who swore that he had received a
visit from the holy brother. Padre Pio responded with a question: “And you
doubt?”
Another time, Padre Pio had admonished Giovanna
Rizzani, that same girl, because the young woman, out of scruples, kept
confessing sins that had already been forgiven. The saint forbade her from
doing this, warning that if she repeated it, he would slap her. Sure enough,
the young woman was outside of San Giovanni Rotondo and, again due to scruples,
began confessing nonexistent sins. She received absolution, and as she rose to
fulfill the penances, she was given a slap so loud that the confessor,
startled, opened the curtain to see the source of the noise.
There is also the case, which we discussed in the
course, of the industrialist who was at Mass in northern Italy and had the
distinct impression that the celebrant was Padre Pio. Puzzled, he went to the
sacristy afterward and, magically, the priest was not at all like the friar.
The man then decided to go to San Giovanni Rotondo. Upon arriving there, Padre
Pio, always in good humor, asked: “Did you need me to go and find you this
time?” When this same man was driving home at night, nodding off at the wheel,
he suddenly felt a punch in the stomach. He woke with pain, braked abruptly,
and just ahead of him, a train was speeding by. Alarmed, the man returned to
the convent to spend the night, and the next day, he went to see Padre Pio, who
told him: “Well, don’t you know you can’t drive in that condition?”
From a philosophical point of view, we can say
there are two forms of presence. The first, the normal one, is the
circumscriptive presence. The being, in its corporeal quantity, is in a specific
place (ubi) in space. But it is also possible to be present through action.
Spiritual realities can be present in one place while acting in another. And,
in that other place, by miracle, divine intervention, something like an
apparition occurs—an apparition, either evanescent or concrete, which may even
perform physical acts.
Leonardo Penitente philosophically points out this
distinction of presence: “The mode of presence of incorporeal beings—like
angelic natures and souls, for example—is not circumscriptive, or it is also
called definitive presence.”
Conclusion
It is clear that bilocation is a very complex
phenomenon. There are various ways to explain it, and in seeing this variety,
we should give glory to God. God's love has no limits. He does everything for
our good. For our sake, He even revokes the limits of space and allows His
saints, being in one place, to act concretely in another, advising, comforting,
correcting, preventing deaths. So many are the wonders of God! The saint
bilocates, but it is God, the creative, salvific, and loving presence, in all
places.
In the face of these mysteries, let us ask, as the
psalmist does: “Where can I go? Where can I flee?” For God, there is no place. His love knows no boundaries.
References
• Padre Agostino da San Marco in Lamis,
Diario. 3rd ed. San Giovanni Rotondo: Edizioni Padre Pio da Pietrelcina, 2012.
• Francesco Castelli, Padre Pio sob
investigação: a “autobiografia” secreta. Translated by Paulinas (Lisbon). 3rd
ed. Lisbon: Paulinas, 2012.
• Alexis Lépicier, O Mundo Invisível.
São Paulo: Molokai, 2019.
• Leonardo Penitente, Bilocação: sua
possibilidade, natureza, conceito e os casos reais rigorosamente documentados.
Campinas: Ecclesiae, 2019.
• Antonio Royo Marín, Teología de la
perfección Cristiana. BAC: Madrid, 1954.
• Solignac,
A., “Multilocation,” in: AA.VV., Dictionnaire de Spiritualité. vol. 10, coll.
1837–1840. Paris: Beauchesne, 1980.
Notes
1. The
document is from a website of postulants for the beatification cause of Dom
Orione.
2. At
the time, they presented him with a book by journalist Alberto Del Fante, who,
from an atheist, became a devout propagator of devotion to Padre Pio.
3. Francesco Castelli, Padre Pio sob
investigação: a “autobiografia” secreta. Translated by Paulinas (Lisbon).
3rd ed. Lisbon: Paulinas, 2012.
4. A
Discalced Carmelite friar who at the time was a bishop and later made a
cardinal.
5. Francesco Castelli, Padre Pio sob
investigação: a “autobiografia” secreta. Translated by Paulinas (Lisbon). 3rd
ed. Lisbon: Paulinas, 2012, p. 264.
6. Ibidem, p. 264.
7. Ibidem, p. 264-265.
8. Padre Agostino da San Marco in Lamis,
Diario. 3rd ed. San Giovanni Rotondo: Edizioni Padre Pio da Pietrelcina, 2012,
p. 94.
9. Bibliographic
suggestions: For a deep yet summarized treatment, read the book Teología de la
Perfección Cristiana, by Royo Marín, starting at page 846. For a broader research with very interesting
results, I recommend the book: Bilocação: sua possibilidade, natureza, conceito
e os casos reais rigorosamente documentados, by Leonardo Penitente, published
by Ecclesiae.
10. Leonardo Penitente, Bilocação: sua
possibilidade, natureza, conceito e os casos reais rigorosamente documentados. Campinas:
Ecclesiae, 2019.
11. For
example, the famous Dictionnaire de Spiritualité, in volume 10, from column
1873, contains an article by E. M. Solignac about multilocation. There, the
author addresses the problem of historical sources and shows that many miracles
attributed to this or that saint seemed not to be true.
12. Alexis Lépicier, O Mundo Invisível. São
Paulo: Molokai, 2019, p. 106.
Source: https://padrepauloricardo.org/episodios/as-bilocacoes-do-padre-pio
