CathInfo.com

I understand this.  I was replying to the statement that at Padre Pio's funeral rites the casket was closed, with the presumption that no one saw the body.  The casket is always closed at the Mass, but it is common to have it open for viewing before, particularly at the Vigil the evening before, and there is plenty of photographic evidence that his casket was open and his body visible during parts of his funeral rites.

I know St. Francis was a deacon, I think everyone knows that.  The reply I was responding to stated "I think St Pio, being the only priest/saint to ever have the sigmata".  I think most would interpret that statement to mean that Padre Pio was the ONLY person to have the stigmata.  The Church has recognized several saints as having received the stigmata.

Read this:
https://www.chiesaviva.com/tomba%20vuota%20ing.pdf

The "body" in the photo was made of wood after Padre Pio was poisoned.

Keep reading the well-docuмented article based on first-hand accounts.
https://www.chiesaviva.com/tomba%20vuota%20ing.pdf

 

.

A first-hand account is one where a person says, "I was there and I saw the tomb empty." No one saying this spoke to the author, that I have seen.

One of the people giving "information" is described as saying, "On a subsequent visit, Eng. Finardi told me about his first meeting with Padre Pio which ended with a punch in his face so violent that he hit his head against a wall and then the role
that he had in the construction of the new church of Santa Maria delle Grazie"

Padre Pio punched him in the face so hard that he slammed the back of his head into a stone wall? This doesn't sound very credible.

Also, does the article state what the motive would be to remove the body?

EDIT: Okay, I found in the article that the motive is supposedly to cover up the fact that he was poisoned, by hiding the body. Um, why would they need to hide the body to do this? Why couldn't they just ... not allow anyone to do an autopsy on his body?

This article is just a regurgitation of a lot of tall stories and creepypastas about people in their 80s and 90s "suspiciously" dropping dead. Um, no, it's completely normal for someone like that to die, and is not an indication of murder. Padre Pio was 81 when he died. There is no need to suspect that he was murdered, and no evidence of that either.