The magazine Voce di Padre Pio
It was founded in July 1970, by the Capuchin Friars of the Sant’Angleo – Foggia Province with two goals: to counter the spread of “information” on Padre Pio “coming from unreliable, alien sources” that “can easily diminish, distort, and falsify not only his authentic figure as a man and religious, but also his spirituality, work and thought,” but also and above all “to sketch his figure as a man and saint (without in any way wishing to anticipate the Church’s judgment)”, “to safeguard his integrity”, “to gather the authentic aspects of his spirituality drawn from his life and teaching,” “to illustrate the charitable and religious movement which has formed and continues to develop around him”, “to describe the life of the shrine of Our Lady of Grace, where he lived and worked,” “to give news, and why not, of those heavenly graces and favours which are attributed to his intercession,” and finally “to give information on the Cause of Beatification and Canonisation.”
It was not something fortuitous that “Voce di Padre Pio” was conceived as the periodical of the Postulation for the beatification and canonisation of Padre Pio of Pietrelcina.
The magazine’s name was suggested by “His Excellency the Archbishop of Manfredonia, Mgr. Valentino Vailati,” (the citations are from the first editorial, written by father Bernardino of Siena, the Postulator General of the Capuchin Friars Minor Order). From the fifth number printed in November of that year father Gerardo Di Flumeri became the director, having been just nominated the “special delegate for the Cause of Padre Pio” together with his fellow friar Father Lino Barbati. Voce di Padre Pio remained faithful “to the goals that inspired its beginnings” until October of 2002, when the “Vice Postulation” was concluded after Padre Pio’s canonisation and “Father Gerardo Di Flumeri also retired as Director of the magazine.” And so, from November of that year bro Francesco Colacelli became the director “having already assisted for a year father Gerardo Di Flumeri as vice director of the magazine.” At the same time there also began a “gradual change of the magazine’s layout, that was also necessary because one of the goals declared in the first editorial, “to give information on the Cause of beatification and canonisation” ended and was substituted with a new goal, that of “reading the significant events characterising our times and present historical-cultural and ecclesial situation, through the experience and spirituality of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina” (the citations are from the editorial of bro Paolo Maria Cuvino, the provincial minister at the time, printed in the number of 2002). Thus, from the first number of 2003, completely renovated graphically and partially in its content, Voce di Padre Pio became “the monthly magazine of the Capuchin Friars Minor,” firstly “of San Giovanni Rotondo” and then later (from June) “of the religious province of Sant’Angelo and Padre Pio.”
After the election of bro Francesco Colacelli as Provincial Minister of the Capuchin Friars Minor of the religious province of Sant’Angelo and Padre Pio, in September 2010 bro Mariano Di Vito was nominated director of the magazine and also president of our Foundation.
Since July 2017, the role of director of “Voce di Padre Pio” magazine and also president of “Fondazione Voce di Padre Pio” has been entrusted to bro Francesco Scaramuzzi by the Provincial Council, presided by bro Maurizio Placentino.
On 28 January 2019 the same provincial Council nominated bro Francesco Dileo president of the Foundation and director of “Voce di Padre Pio”. On 9 October 2023 the newly composed Council confirmed him in the same positions.
At present the magazine in the Italian language consists of 11 numbers per year (90 pages, in four colour print, pleasing graphics and mix of text and images). Five numbers per year are also printed in English, French, German and Spanish. And a calendar is printed in Italian and the above-mentioned foreign languages.
The topics and themes discussed in the articles of the magazine are written by some of the top Italian Catholic journalists.
