The exhumed body of Padre Pio, a saint considered a miracle worker by his devotees, has attracted thousands of pilgrims after going on display in a southern Italian town 40 years after his death.
Padre Pio, one of the Catholic church's most popular saints, is said to have the stigmata, the wounds of Jesus's crucifixion on his hands and feet.
The saint's body, displayed in a crystal sepulcher, was unveiled in a church in San Giovanni Rotondo on Thursday.
About 15,000 people attended an open air mass before the body was unveiled in the church where Padre Pio spent most of his life.
Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, head of the Vatican's sainthood in the church, led the mass.
"Today, we venerate his body, opening a particularly intense period of
pilgrimage,'' Saraiva Martins said.
clipped from: english.aljazeera.net 