The friar and mystic Padre Pio, real name Francesco Forgione, was born in Pietrelcina in southern Italy on May 25th, 1887 and died on September 30th, 1968 at the age 81. He is best remembered for becoming the first priest in the Catholic Church ever to have been bestowed the stigmata, marking him as a person who shared the sufferings of Jesus Christ. His stigmata and other phenomena gained worldwide attention over the years and he was heavily sought after as a spiritual director and paranormal figure. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1910 and hundreds of thousands of followers came from around the world to attend his Masses and implore his spiritual guidance. By 1916, he had developed a well-known reputation and was being besieged by persons begging to be cured of their physical infirmities. In 1918, he received the stigmata and reportedly exhibited such shouldering of the cross of Christ that in 1933 the Vatican gave him permission to remain at San Giovanni Rotondo and start the Home for the Relief of Suffering. Padre Pio was noted for his charity and acts of kindness. He was dedicated to prayer and is said to have prayed for up to 12 hours a day, in addition to his work as a healer. His death on September 30th, 1968 was mourned by the thousands of people who knew and respected him.