An interview with Father John Aurilia, a Capuchin monk who served as a personal secretary to Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, better known as Padre Pio, has attracted more than 100,000 views in the month since it was posted.
The interview was with the Catholic Forum, which is the longest-running Catholic talk radio show in the United States, according to the Diocese of Wilmington.
“In the interview, Father Aurilia unveils a human aspect to Saint Padre Pio that one does not often experience,” said Bob Krebs, host of the Catholic Forum, according to the Diocese of Wilmington. “I am sure that the warmth and charm of Father Aurilia also contributed to the immense popularity of the YouTube video.”
The 85-year-old monk was interviewed about his book Dearest Soul: A Spiritual Journey with Padre Pio, which was published last year.
“I had to write this book to bring to the people the message of Padre Pio,” he said in the interview.
The book draws on Padre Pio’s letters, including those sent to his spiritual directors, which Fr. Aurelia only read after the saint’s death.
“I thought I knew everything about Padre Pio, being his personal secretary,” he told Catholic Forum. “But then when I read the letters of Padre Pio, I realized I didn’t know everything about Padre Pio! Because the letters were published after Padre Pio died, and his letters speak about his personal relationship with Jesus, intimacy with Jesus, to [his] spiritual directors.”
In the interview, Fr. Aurelia described the book as 80% Padre Pio’s words and 20% his own explanations.
One of the letters Fr. Aurelia spoke was the Pope Pius XII, who had reached out to Padre Pio for advice about countering Naziism, communism, and fascism. Padre Pio assured the Holy Father that the faithful all over the world were praying for him and that God would answer their prayers.
Fr. Aurelia described how, when Padre Pio was put under investigation and isolated from others because of his stigmata, the saint never wavered in his devotion to the papacy and the Vatican.
“Always obedience,” Fr. Aurelia said in describing Saint Pio’s attitude towards superiors. “That is part of his holiness, because anybody [else] would say, ‘the Vatican is punishing me for something I didn’t do. Why should I love the Vatican? And Padre Pio loved the Vatican and the hierarchy and prayed for them all the time.”
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