Rome, Italy, Jun 30, 2004 / 22:00 pm
The hundreds of pilgrims who each year visit the Italian village of San Giovanni Rotondo to pray to Padre Pio will now be able to do so in the second largest church in the world, which is dedicated to the Italian saint and was consecrated today.
With a Mass concelebrated by 10 Cardinals, 120 bishops and 500 priests, the new Church of St. Pio opened its doors for the first time to the vast number of visitors who travel to the small Italian village each year.
Surpassed in size only by St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, the new church that has knocked London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral into third place was designed by the famous architect Renzo Piano and can seat more than seven thousand people in its interior and more than 30,000 in the square outside.
Construction began 10 years ago in response to the need to welcome pilgrims who come each year to visit the tomb of the Italian saint.