Padre Pio and Raffaelina Cerase: the story of a great spiritual friendship

Padre Pio was an Italian Capuchin friar and priest known for his stigmas, or wounds that reproduced the wounds of Christ on the cross. Raffaelina Cerase was a young Italian woman who went to Padre Pio to ask for a cure for her tuberculosis.

Raffaelina Cerase met Padre Pio in 1929when he was 20 years old. Padre Pio told her that she would be healed and prescribed prayers and a novena for her to recite. Raffaelina began to recite the prayers and the novena with great devotion and she miraculously recovered from her illness.

After her recovery, Raffaelina became one devout of Padre Pio and wrote him numerous letters, asking for advice and prayers for herself and for others. In some of these letters Raffaelina described the visions and spiritual experiences she had had.

Raffaelina died in 1938 due to kidney disease. Padre Pio, who was at that moment in seclusion by order of the Catholic Church, was unable to attend her funeral but wrote her a letter in which he described her as "a dear daughter of Heavenly Father".

THEfriendship between Padre Pio and Raffaelina Cerase has been the subject of study and controversy. Some believe that there was a romantic relationship between the two, but there is no concrete evidence to support this theory. Others believe that Raffaelina exaggerated her spiritual experiences to get Padre Pio's attention.

The testimony of Romeo Tortorella

Romeo Tortorella, a child at the time, lived along the road that Padre Pio traveled every day to go to Raffaelina. He saw him walking towards the house with his arms folded and his eyes lowered. He stayed in the company of the woman for about 2 or 3 hours, then returned to the convent.

Luigi Tortorella, Romeo's father was a very trusted person of Raffaelina. The woman handed him the money for alms and also for the decorum of the Church of Grace. The man defends her from the accusations and illusions of the people. Raffaelina was a charitable person, always ready to help the weakest and Padre Pio was for her only her spiritual father.