We are now able to lay our eyes on newly released photographs of Saint Padre Pio. The incredible images show the Italian friar celebrating Mass and deep in prayer. But also, in lighter moments of laughter, moments rarely captured of the Saint. Ten never before seen pictures of Padre Pio are being released by the St. Pio Foundation, under the direction of Luciano Lamonarca, who discovered them when visiting the photographer Elia Stelluto’s studio.    

Luciano Lamonarca is the founder of the St. Pio Foundation. Regarding his impression when he first saw the photos, he told EWTN, “There was this authenticity and the quality inside the picture that I have never seen before. When I was in his studio I was amazed. How can you bring this to the world?”  

These ten pictures are being released to the world to celebrate ten years of the St. Pio Foundation.  

Colm Flynn, EWTN News Correspondent, asked Luciano, “Tell me about these images. How do we see St. Padre Pio in a new light like we haven’t before?”  

“Well,” Luciano said, “one of the pictures I was always amazed by was when Padre Pio held Baby Jesus during Christmas. This picture was taken without flash. The light that came beyond the statues was amazing.”  

Showing another photo, Luciano noted, “Then we have Padre Pio celebrating Mass in [a] completely new light.”  

Another showcases the human quality of the Saints. Luciano shared, “One is nice because everybody I show, ‘Hey, Padre Pio is smiling.’ Yes, he was smiling because he was a man. So we always think that Padre Pio was a serious man. You know, faith is also about laughing and having a nice laugh sometimes.”  

Luciano noted a particular quality to the photos: “And the way he looks at you, but he doesn’t look at you. Padre Pio did not want to shine. That’s why he didn’t want a picture taken of him. He needed to give hope. Healing. He needed to perform miracles eventually. Many, many times.”  

Growing up in Italy, Luciano was always aware of the giant figure that Padre Pio was in the Catholic Church, but didn’t have a particular devotion to him, until he and his wife faced a very difficult moment in their life.  

Luciano shared about this moment in his life, “A moment that brought us sorrow. My and my wife’s life. Bad news that we could not be parents anymore.”  

His wife had a stillborn child and were told by the doctors they would most likely not be able to give birth in the future. It was devastating news for the couple, and it was in that moment that Luciano started to pray for Padre Pio’s intercession and, in the process, to learn more about his life.  

Colm Flynn asked, “What was it about Padre Pio that you felt drawn to at that moment?”  

Luciano responded, “As I was discussing with other people, I was learning some things about him that never actually appealed to me, who Padre Pio actually was. Simplicity and humility. It was the grandfather that I never had.”  

An opera singer by profession, Luciano has always put passion in everything he does, and felt such a connection to St. Padre Pio, that he wanted to help bring his story, and message to as many people as he could, especially in the United States. So, with that, he started the St. Pio Foundation. And for the past few years they have toured relics of Padre Pio across the United States and raised awareness of the Saint.  

Luciano asked himself, “How can we bring a true Padre Pio to those whose life can be changed? I am a different man now than I was 15 years ago. It’s because he changed me.”  

And now, to mark the 10 years of the foundation they have also produced a documentary drama about the life of Padre Pio which will be aired on EWTN later this year, providing another unique insight into his life.  

Luciano remarked, “So, it’s a unique and true identity about who St. Pio was in his life and who he inspired eventually after.”  

“With a mix of,” Flynn noted, “the documentary side of it with the experts speaking on it, the people who know the story best about it and the drama.”

Luciano continued, “And the true story of those who met him and just even seeing, there is a great part of the footage you can see Padre Pio.”

And today, Luciano and his wife live in the U.S., with their son Sebastian, whom she gave birth to the year after he founded the St. Pio Foundation.  

As an Italian living in the U.S., he is passionate about strengthening the ties between the two countries in the name of St. Pio, and, in 2021, he established the first town square dedicated to the People of the United States of America in Pietrelcina, the town where Padre Pio was born, and installed the original cast of the statue “I Embrace You” by sculptor Timoty Schmaltz.  

The Saint, “surrounding the world,” Luciano explained, “the map of the United States of America as a sign of protection.”

And on the other side of the Atlantic in the town of New Castle in Pennsylvania, the town where Grazio Forgione, Padre Pio’s father, emigrated 125 years ago, they established a town square dedicated to the People of Italy, and installed the only replica of the statue “I Embrace You”  

As we give praise to God on the occasion of the unveiling of this beautiful St. Padre Pio. Luciano said, “I found the St. Pio Foundation with the goal to bring Padre Pio to a different level that hasn’t been brought before.”

Adapted by Jacob Stein

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