The friendship between Saint John Paul II, and Saint Pio of Pietrelcina

Saint Pio and Saint Pope John Paul II friendship is dated back to the 1947, when the young Father Karol Wojtyla was engaged in doctoral studies at Rome’s  Pontifical International Athenaeum Angelicum, the future  Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas. He made the pilgrimage to the small town of San Giovanni Rotondo in Southern Italy to meet Padre Pio and to have his confession heard by him. Father Karol Wojtyla spent nearly a week in San Giovanni Rotondo in the company of Padre Pio and had the opportunity to speak at length with Padre Pio, who called himself the ‘ humble friar who prays’.

Indisputable proof of Pope John Paul II’s high esteem for Padre Pio was an event that took place in 1962 when young Bishop Wojtyla was in Rome, attending Vatican II. He received a letter from Krakòw that informed him that one of his main collaborators, Dr. Wanda Poltawska, a doctor in psychiatry with whom he had worked frequently in family services, was seriously ill with throat cancer. The doctors had decided to operate on her, but the hope of saving her was negligible.

Wojtyla learned of the news with great sorrow and thought about Padre Pio. He composed a letter, written Latin and addressed to Padre Pio, and sent it to Msgr. Angelo Battisti, the administrator of the hospital “Home for the Relief of Suffering,” founded by Padre Pio. Msgr. Battisti personally delivered the letter to Padre Pio, who after having read it, said,  “Angelo, I cannot say no to this request. ” Eleven days later, Msgr. Battisti returned to San Giovanni Rotondo with a second letter from Archbishop Wojtyla, in which he thanked Padre Pio, saying,  “The lady who was ill with cancer was suddenly healed before entering the operating room. ” Today Dr. Wanda Poltawska is 99 years old, the recipient of a true “miracle” from the hand of God through the intercession of Saint Pio and at the request of the future Saint John Paul II.

Karol Wojtyla was repeatedly touched by Padre Pio and his legacy, first as a priest in 1947, then as a cardinal in 1974 when he visited San Giovanni Rotondo, and again in 1987 as a Pope when he marked the 100th anniversary of Padre Pio's birth. But it was that first encounter — along with Wojtyla's belief that it was Padre Pio's intercession that had cured his friend  Wanda  Poltawska from cancer in 1962 — that helps to explain why Saint Pope John Paul II was undoubtedly so important in the canonization process of Padre Pio.